CBP Update Alert: New Fields on the Entry Summary (CBP Form 7501)
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has updated the Entry Summary document to enhance origin reporting requirements for steel imports.
Now included on the 7501 form are the following mandatory fields:
🔹 Country of Melt and Pour
🔹 Primary Country of Smelt
🔹 Secondary Country of Smelt
🔹 Country of Cast
These updates aim to increase transparency in steel sourcing, ensure compliance with trade regulations, and support enforcement of Section 232 measures.
Why it matters:
Importers of steel products must ensure that Mill Certificates and documentation clearly indicate the origin of melt, pour, smelt, and cast processes — as these are now part of formal CBP reporting.
Action Item for Importers & Brokers:
Double-check your data entry processes and ensure supplier documentation aligns with these new fields.
CBAM: Public consultation on the extension of CBAM to downstream products
The CBAM Regulation provides for the need to assess and propose, if appropriate, an extension of the scope to so-called “downstream products” (i.e. products that are further down the value chain of the goods currently in scope). Furthermore, to prevent carbon leakage further down the value chain, the recent European Steel and Metals Action Plan stressed the need for a scope extension of CBAM to certain steel & aluminium-intensive downstream products and announced a Commission proposal to be adopted by the end of this year.
Carbon leakage occurs if EU producers of downstream goods move production abroad to avoid increased carbon costs, or if EU buyers switch to imports from third countries with weaker climate policies. Additional anti-circumvention measures would target practices aiming to avoid the CBAM financial obligation, without due cause or economic justification. Concerns have furthermore been raised with the existing rules for the default values and the conditions for using actual emissions for electricity in CBAM. On 1 July 2025, the Commission has launched a public consultation that aims to gather the opinions of all stakeholders on the policy design of CBAM’s potential scope extension to specific downstream products, anti-circumvention measures and rules for the electricity sector, as well as on their potential social, economic, environmental, and administrative impacts. The main target audiences are EU-based and non-EU stakeholders, namely:
- companies active in the production, trading and warehousing of CBAM basic goods (including electricity) and downstream goods;
- associations of producers of CBAM basic goods (including electricity) and downstream goods;
- non-governmental organisations;
- academic institutions – in line with the Commission’s better regulation policy to develop initiatives informed by the best available knowledge, we particularly invite researchers and academic organisations to submit relevant published and pre-print scientific research, analyses and data;
- public authorities, including customs authorities; and
- trade unions.
You can share your feedback on this initiative until 26 August 2025. Source: European Commission
EU commission introduces surveillance of imports and exports of metal scrap
The Commission has activated the customs surveillance system to monitor the import and export of metal waste and scrap into and out of the EU, covering ferrous waste and scrap (including steel), aluminium and copper. The Commission adopted the Steel and Metal Action Plan (SMAP) on 19 March to address the significant challenges affecting the competitiveness of the EU's metals industries. One key pillar of this plan is promoting metal circularity, which not only supports the decarbonisation of metal industries but also aligns with the Commission's proposal to achieve a 90% reduction of net greenhouse gas emissions by 2040, compared to 1990. The EU is experiencing a decline in metal scrap availability for recycling, also because of "scrap leakage" to third countries. The introduction of a 50% tariff by the United States on a wide range of steel and aluminium products (excluding scrap) may further worsen this issue as rising global prices of primary materials increase the incentive to export scrap abroad. To ensure sufficient access to scrap for EU’s metals industries, the Commission will closely monitor imports and exports of metal scrap to gather more structured and detailed information of what comes in and out of the EU. The Customs surveillance system can provide the Commission with information to take targeted trade measures for ensuring a sufficient supply of scrap and preventing scarcity, thereby strengthening the resilience and sustainability of EU's metals industries. Source: European Commission
EU Unveils 18th Sanctions Package Targeting Russia’s Energy, Finance, and Military Sectors
On 18th July, The EU Council adopted today a 18th package of economic and individual restrictive measures hitting hard on Russia’s energy, banking and military sectors, as well as trade with the EU, and ensuring accountability for Russia’s continued war of aggression against Ukraine. Furthermore, the Council complemented the package by agreeing further measures on Belarus. 18th package includes economic and individual measures with a view to increasing pressure on Russia and to achieving a just and lasting peace for Ukraine. The Council has agreed on a significant set of 55 listings, consisting of 14 individuals and 41 entities responsible for actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine, bringing the total number of individual listings to over 2500.
Key measures:
Energy & Shadow fleet:
- Oil price cap lowered from $60 to $47.60/barrel, with a dynamic adjustment mechanism built in.
- Ban on Nord Stream 1 & 2: transactions for goods, services, maintenance fully prohibited.
- Refined petroleum ban: includes products from third countries (exempting Canada, Norway, Switzerland, UK, US).
- Shadow fleet crackdown: 105 additional tankers banned (now 444 total) from ports, services, or ship-to-ship transfers.
Banking and Finance:
- Transactions banned with 22 additional Russian banks (on top of the 23 already blacklisted), blocking access to SWIFT and EU financial messaging .
- Broader sanctions: lower thresholds to sanction foreign financial and crypto institutions aiding in Russia sanction evasion.
- RDIF (Russian Direct Investment Fund) and its investees are now under full transaction bans.
- Software export curbs: bans on banking/financial software used in Russia.
Military industry:
- New export bans totaling over €2.5 billion, covering CNC machines, propellant chemicals, chemicals, plastics, machinery, tools and measuring devices.
- Targeted entities: 26 additional companies (including 7 in China, 3 in Hong Kong, 4 in Turkey) blacklisted for supplying Russia’s military sector.
- Assets targeted: 14 individuals and 41 entities associated with undermining Ukrainian sovereignty; sanctions apply to many officials active in child deportations/indoctrination.
Belarus:
- Sanctions further aligned with those on Russia: 8 Belarusian military-industrial entities added, import ban on arms enforced, and messaging transaction bans expanded.
Accountability
- The Council is imposing sanctions on another individual actively involved in Russia’s “military education” of Ukrainian children. This brings the total number of listings in relation to the deportation and indoctrination of Ukrainian children to over 90. The package also lists several Russian proxies in occupied territories, including a person responsible for manipulating Ukrainian cultural heritage, another leading Russian businessperson and a prominent Russian propagandist.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas described it as “one of its strongest sanctions packages” and reiterated that “each sanction weakens Russia's ability to wage war”
Source: For more information, please refer European Council
Milestone in EU Customs Reform: Member States adopt common position on new Union Customs Code (UCC)
On 27 June 2025, the Council adopted its negotiating mandate on a core element to reform the EU Customs Union. This important step accelerates efforts to modernise customs procedures, strengthening the capability of EU customs to supervise and control the flow of goods entering and leaving the Customs Union, starting with e-commerce goods.
Key elements of the Reform:
A European Customs Authority
At the core of this transformation is the creation of a European Customs Authority (EUCA), which will develop and run a new EU Customs Data Hub.
The Hub will revolutionise data provision and data sharing across Member States, providing businesses with a single digital environment and customs authorities with a common risk management framework and a panoramic view of import activities. This will enable smarter controls and efficient interventions. Over the coming years, the Data Hub will replace the existing national and trans-European IT systems across Member States, allowing them to save an estimated 2 billion EUR annually and to keep to the cutting edge of new technologies and analytical tools.
A more modern approach to e-commerce and a new handling fee
The reform makes online vendors and platforms accountable to comply with customs rules, protecting consumers from unexpected costs and ensuring products are safe according to EU standards.
As announced in the Commission Communication on e-commerce of February 2025, a non-discriminatory handling fee for goods imported into the EU directly to consumers is being discussed, to further strengthen the proposed measures with additional support to the customs authorities.
Benefits for Member States, Businesses and Consumers
The updated customs framework supports fair competition for EU businesses by reducing bureaucracy and lowering costs. At the same time, consumers will enjoy enhanced protection through a resilient system that boosts detecting fraud and unsafe products. The reform will help to reinforce EU legislation in various areas, such as product compliance, health, environment, climate, labour rights. The revenue gained from enhanced duty and tax collections will benefit both the EU and national budgets. Link
European Commission modernizes Tobacco Taxation Directive
The European Commission has proposed an update of the EU’s Tobacco Taxation Directive. In light of evolving public health challenges and significant shifts in the market, the reform modernises the Directive in line with the EU’s health and economic priorities and strengthens the Single Market.
EU suspends additional tariffs on selected US products until August 2025
Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1446 suspending trade-to-trade rebalancing measures on certain products originating in the United States, imposed by Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/778, and amending Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/2882, has been published. The regulation suspends until 6 August 2025 the application of additional tariffs on certain products originating in the United States that were introduced under Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/778. Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/2882 amended the dates, extending the suspension of all measures until 6 August 2025 m.in. The regulation comes into force on July 15, 2025. Link
South Africa Import and export restrictions list has been updated
The below tariff headings do not require a Letter of Authority.
- 8465.91; 8465.92; 8465.93; 8465.94; 8465.95; 8465.96 and 8465.99
New subheadings inserted under Tariff heading 7210.70:
- 7210.70.20; 7210.70.30; 7210.70.40; 7210.70.50
Source: South Africa Revenue Service
United Kingdom: HMRC has launched a new public facing log of live and resolved tariff related issues
The aim is that the Issues Log will be used in conjunction with Stop Press. The issues log will notify when we are aware of an issue and the stop will notify the technical updates that occur to the tariff.
UK will update the live issues log when:
- HMRC becomes aware of tariff data issues that may affect declarations; and
- Where we can provide an update on an issue already logged.
We hope that this will allow tariff users to check for known issues and provide a consolidated view of important issues that may affect their declarations. Source: Gov.uk
United Kingdom: Update to Registration of imports of hot-rolled steel plate originating from South Korea
The Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) have recommended a registration of imports of hot-rolled steel plate from South Korea. The goods are imported under the following commodity codes: 7208 5120; 7208 5191; 7208 5198; 7208 5210; 7208 5291; 7208 5299; 7208 9020; 7208 9080; 7210 9030; 7225 4040 and 7225 4060. Source: Gov.uk
United States: Actions of the US administration on tariffs - next steps
The Trump administration has continued its intensive work on tariffs, most notably by postponing deadlines and sending letters to trading partners with information about the new tariffs, including the EU and Mexico , announcing the introduction of a 30% tariff on products shipped to the US from August 1, 2025, in addition to tariffs on other sectors of the economy – steel, aluminium and cars – which are already in force. A key event was the extension of the deadline until August 1, 2025 for negotiations with countries that want to avoid higher tariffs. Trump announced that after this date, the tariffs will take effect, although he left some flexibility, declaring that this date is "final, but not 100% final". In preparation for the tariffs, Trump has already sent letters to a number of countries, including the EU, Brazil, the Philippines, South Korea and Japan, with tariffs as high as 25-50% on steel, aluminum, automobiles and auto parts. In the coming days, it is planned to send more letters to about 100 smaller countries. New tariffs from August 1, 2025 were imposed on imports from six countries: the Philippines (20%), Brunei and Moldova (25%), as well as Algeria, Iraq and Libya (30%). In addition, a 50% duty on copper imports was announced, although details about the date of entry into force of this tariff were not specified.