The United Kingdom will give U.S. companies an additional 60 days to submit documentation for value-added tax (VAT) refund claims covering 2017-18 in light of disruptions caused by the recent U.S. federal government shutdown, the U.K.’s HM Revenue & Customs said in an updated guidance document. As a result of the partial shutdown, U.S. companies may not have been able to obtain a valid certificate of status proving their U.S. business registration, HMRC said. The revised deadline for the certificates for 2017-18 refund claims is now May 30. The deadline for claimants from all other countries remains March 31, 2019. “In all cases, all other documentary evidence required to process the 2017 to 2018 claims must have been submitted by 31 December 2018,” HMRC said. Under the Overseas Refund Scheme, companies not based in the U.K. or European Union may “reclaim VAT charged on imports into the UK or purchases of goods and services used in the UK for business purposes.”
Japan and Turkey are hoping to agree on a trade deal by June as the two sides enter their latest round of negotiations, according to a notice from Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and a report by Nikkei Asian Review. The latest round of negotiations -- announced on April 1 by Japan -- are being held April 2-5 in Ankara.
A Micronesian government official pleaded guilty to money laundering charges that violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the Department of Justice said April 3. Master Halbert, an official in Micronesia’s Department of Transportation, Communications and Infrastructure, received bribes from a Hawaii-based engineering and consulting company in exchange for contracts with the Micronesian government, the department said.
The Census Bureau visited 13 companies in 2018 as part of its Automated Export System compliance review program, the agency said in an April 3 blog post. The average AES compliance rates prior to the visits were 85 percent, it said. Such visits are meant to "help noncompliant companies understand the export reporting requirements" and avoid government enforcement actions, Census said. Noncompliance includes "filing incorrect Schedule B or Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) numbers, filing with foreign currency, filing with incorrect units of measure, or failing to verify information with a commodity analyst," it said.
CBP's reallocation of 750 officers from Ports of Entry to Border Patrol is affecting exports from the U.S., according to an April 4 call with CBP officials. According to an emailed write-up of the call from the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America, this "deployment will affect outbound as well, as there is far fewer staff overall." The NCBFAA said that "CBP acknowledged that all southwest cargo ports are being impacted" and "the option is available to direct to other ports, but all will see an expected wait time increase."
Treasury’s March settlement with Stanley Black & Decker serves as a compliance guide for U.S. companies and represents an important peek into how the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control plans to issue enforcement settlements throughout 2019, according to an April 1 report by WilmerHale.
Canada appears set to impose a three-year safeguard duty on imports of heavy steel plate and stainless steel wire from most countries, but could soon refund safeguard duties collected on five other types of steel, after the Canadian International Trade Tribunal issued a mixed decision April 3 on whether to finalize provisional safeguard duties in place since October.
Livingston International will take part in blockchain pilot involving the Canada Border Services Agency, the company said in an April 3 news release. The pilot will use TradeLens, a "blockchain-enabled digital shipping solution jointly developed" by IBM and A.P. Moller-Maersk, it said. "Livingston will serve as the first customs broker to leverage the TradeLens platform for brokerage automation," the company said. "Livingston's role in the pilot will be to enter and access information on shipments and streamline internal procedures without compromising accuracy or security. The CBSA is participating in the TradeLens pilot to determine what role the platform could play in its business processes."
The Federal Maritime Commission released a notice of the filing of the following agreements under the Shipping Act of 1984. Interested parties may submit comments on the agreement by email to Secretary@fmc.gov, or by mail to the Secretary, Federal Maritime Commission, Washington, DC 20573, within 12 days of publication in the Federal Register.
In the April 3 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted: