CBP Working on 5-Year Plan for AD/CV Enforcement, Trade Intelligence
At the February 21, 2012 COAC meeting, U.S. Customs and Border Protection stated that the agency was developing a 5-year antidumping and countervailing duty enforcement strategy as well as a trade intelligence program, while COAC’s AD/CV Subcommittee expressed interest in AD/CV retrospective, bonding, and scope review issues.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
AD/CV Enforcement to Be Underpinned by 5-Year Strategy
CBP officials stated that the agency was developing a 5-year AD/CV enforcement strategy that will clearly articulate the actions and priority for CBP’s internal and external customers.
The agency has also created a Re-Engineering Dumping “RED” Team comprised of members of many different offices within CBP. This group is charged with studying the regulatory and logistical import process for entries subject to AD/CV and then identifying the threats, challenges, and vulnerabilities in each step of the process.
They are looking with special interest at transshipment, undercollections, the role of shell companies, and other gaps, vulnerabilities, or challenges.
CBP Meeting with Trade to Develop Trade Intelligence Program
CBP is also seeking to improve its communication with the trade, and will be holding meetings in early 2012 to develop a functional trade intelligence program. CBP hosted an initial joint meeting with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on December 13, 2011 to address what the Department of Homeland Security can do to enter into this dialogue. Representatives from 37 trade associations and business sectors attended this meeting from AD/CV, intellectual property rights (IPR), Textile, and other Priority Trade Issues (PTI) industries1.
Subcommittee Discusses Scope Review Process, Bonding Issues
According to the COAC Subcommittee, its sole focus during the working period prior to the December 7, 2011 meeting was on the nature of the retrospective system in the context of AD/CV enforcement. Since that meeting, the Subcommittee has widened their discussion to overarching issues that affect the current system, including AD/CV bonding and the scope review process (including how the current ITA process may relate to overall CBP duty collection and enforcement issues).
1PTIs are high-risk areas that can cause significant revenue loss, hurt the U.S. economy, or threaten the health and safety of the American people. There are currently eight PTIs designated by CBP, including: (i) agriculture programs; (ii) antidumping and countervailing; (iii) import safety; (iv) intellectual property rights; (v) penalties; (vi) revenue; (vii) textiles; and (viii) trade agreements. (See ITT's Online Archives 12011314 and 12010414 for summaries of the IPR and textiles PTIs.)
(See ITT’s Online Archives 11121514 for summary of the December 7, 2011 COAC meeting discussions on a prospective AD/CV system. See ITT’s Online Archives 12020307 for summary of final recommendation of the Subcommittee for a prospective AD/CV system in advance of the February 21, 2012 meeting. See ITT’s Online Archives 12020917 for summary of CBP comments on its future mission, including mitigating the revenue loss associated with collecting AD/CV duties.
See ITT’s Online Archives 11082902 for summary of discussion at August 18, 2011 COAC meeting on ways to improve AD/CV enforcement, including eliminating retrospective process and RED Team’s inquiries into issues such as transshipment, undercollections, etc.
See ITT’s Online Archives 11052734 for summary of testimony before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on enforcement of AD/CV duty laws, including statement that over $1 billion in AD/CV duties is uncollected, with most of it from Chinese firms.)