Week 10th Transaction – First 100 Days of New Government

Ministry of Commerce formulates standard policies for questionnaire expansion in advertising/CVD procedures

The Ministry of Commerce has issued a new policy to create a unified application deadline in anti-temporary tax and anti-theft tax procedures. Overall, the policy will reduce the time for initial and supplementary questionnaires received in extension requests. Specific policy updates include the following:

• Preliminary questionnaire in AD/CVD survey and review – If a second request is made, business will allow one week to be extended for another three days.
• Supplemental lookup form with more than 20 questions – Preliminary responses within 10 calendar days, if a second request is made, a week’s extension may be made before three additional answers.
• Government Response in CVD Investigation and Review – The extension request for the second item of the initial questionnaire will be approved for 10 days before the second extension request will be approved.
• Government’s answer to the supplementary questionnaire:
  • Questionnaire with less than 20 questions – the initial 10-day deadline followed by the first extension of a week and the second extension of a three-day period.
  • Questionnaire with more than 20 questions – the initial 13-day deadline followed by the first extension of a week and the second extension of a three-day.

The Office Director will be required to approve all first and second extension requests and the Deputy Assistant Secretary must sign any other extensions.

Tariffs imposed on automobiles and auto parts imported into the United States

On March 26, 2025, President Trump issued a declaration (titled “Adjusting the Import of Automobile and Auto Parts to the United States”) that imposes a 25% tariff on cars and brings value to the US content value of USMCA-AUSMCA-AUTOS. These tariffs will come into effect on April 3, 2025.

The tariffs are also set to include auto parts, which will come into effect on May 3, 2025. Attachments that identify the specific parts to be covered have not been issued, although the tariff does not apply to knock kits or parts assembly.

25% will be a supplement to all other tariffs and tariffs and will have no drawbacks. We’re detailing these new tariffs here.

Customs duties authorized by national imports for purchasing oil from Venezuela

On March 24, 2025, President Trump issued an executive order (“EO” (titled “Tariffs on States Importing Venezuelan Oil”), allowing tariffs on all goods imported into the United States from any country importing Venezuelan oil, whether directly from Venezuela or from Venezuela. These tariffs follow President Trump’s growing pressure on Venezuela, including revoking Chevron’s general license, allowing it to trade oil with state-owned Venezuela, and with state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela, SA (“PDVSA”).

Although EO provides a 25% tariff on goods by countries importing oil from Venezuela, it does not require such tariffs and does not authorize such tariffs to take effect immediately. We discussed this EO in more detail here earlier this week.

BIS adds 80 parties to the entity list to target China and Iran

On March 25, 2025, the Bureau of Industry and Security of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce (“BIS”) added 80 entities to the BIS’s entity list, mainly for activities related to China’s military modernization efforts and advanced artificial intelligence (“AI”) systems. Other supplements include entities supporting Iran’s unmanned flight program.

Entity List Added has been published in two separate federal registration notices and a full list of entities can be found here and here. These entities are mainly in China, but also include political parties from Iran, the United Arab Emirates, South Africa, Taiwan and Pakistan. BIS said in the announcement that the latest round of names is intended to:

• Limit the ability of the Communist Party of China (CCP) to obtain and develop high-performance and external computing capabilities and quantum technologies for military applications;
• It has prevented China from developing its supersonic weapons plan;
• Prevent entities associated with the South African Test Flight Academy (TFASA) from using American items to train Chinese troops;
• Destroy Iranian self-driving cars (UAVs) and related defense items; and
• Destroy unfair nuclear activities and the development of ballistic missile programs.

BIS may cut funding for fiscal 2025

The Trump administration appears to have reduced the BIS budget by about 10.5%, or $20 million, to $171 million in fiscal 2025. According to several members of Congress, the reduction in President Trump cuts cuts to be designated as funding for emergency funding as part of the recently adopted StopGap Contotuntun solution.

Last week, in its opening speech at the BIS 2025 update meeting, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick promised export law enforcement and export law enforcement and punishment for violations of export penalties. It is unclear what impact the budget may have on BIS enforcement and other functions, if any. Several members of Congress asked if BIS staff would be reduced.