Thirty-five associations are calling for DHS, CBP and Congress to finalize the selection of those who will be serving in this current term of the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC), as COAC is short on members by 30% and that lack of a full roster is hindering the committee from fulfilling all the work it would like to do, the groups say.
As CBP deploys measures to ensure de minimis compliance among importers, there are some big-picture items that the agency and Congress need to consider to enable scalability or prevent loopholes, according to Lenny Feldman, managing partner with Sandler Travis.
The Court of International Trade on Aug. 8 said anti-forced labor advocacy group International Rights Advocates (IRAdvocates) doesn't have standing to challenge CBP's inaction in responding to a petition to ban cocoa from Cote d'Ivoire. Judge Claire Kelly said IRAdvocates failed to show that CBP's inaction "has harmed a core business or diminished any asset."
DHS has added five more entries to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List, bringing the total up to 73 entities flagged by U.S. officials for allegedly using forced labor by Uyghurs and other religious and ethnic minority groups in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR).
Chinese seller Jinxiang Lunong Agricultural Trading's sale of dehydrated garlic to U.S. importer Green Food Ingredients isn't “bona fide” first sale that can be used to appraise a transaction, CBP ruled on May 29. This is partly because of how the transaction was structured and invoiced, the agency said.
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The Court of International Trade earlier this month heard oral argument on whether a CBP protest denial effectively revoked a prior CBP protest decision by applying a different tariff classification to identical merchandise, and should have been subject to a notice-and-comment period (Under the Weather v. U.S., CIT # 21-00211).
Trade associations are generally pleased with the trade facilitation discussion draft issued in the Senate last week (see 2407310037), though they all noted that moving to a true one-U.S.-government data submission and release regime requires money, which may not follow, even if the bill becomes law.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., is sharing draft text with the trade of a bill that would remove goods subject to Section 301 tariffs from the de minimis entry lane, along with any categories deemed "import sensitive" in the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program legislation.
CBP unveiled Aug, 2 a list of proposals further defining just how President Joe Biden expects the agency to implement Biden’s "Detect and Defeat" legislation (see 2407310030) aimed at thwarting fentanyl and other illicit drugs from entering the U.S. via the millions of de minimis shipments or imports that are worth less than $800.