CBP is continuing work to resolve questions that have arisen on Section 321 clearance through foreign-trade zones, said Brenda Smith, executive assistant commissioner-trade at CBP, in an April 10 interview. The agency is still considering a ruling request on whether larger shipments can be brought into foreign-trade zones, then broken up into smaller shipments valued under the $800 de minimis so they can be entered exempt from taxes and fees under Section 321 (see 1802140015).
321 de minimis
De minimis is a policy described in Section 321, 19 USC 1321. It allows the import of articles duty and tax free, provided their aggregate fair retail value does not exceed $800 in the country from which the articles are imported. Additionally, the articles must be imported by only one person on one day. The previous de minimis threshold was $200, but the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act increased it to $800.
CBP looks set to take a wide open approach to electronic filing of Section 321 entries, with a “range of options” that allow filers to “do whatever works best for their business model,” said Michael Mullen, executive director of the Express Association of America, in an interview. Clearance off manifest would likely continue, using an item descriptor to identify cargo, with electronic filing expanded to other modes. CBP will also likely allow Section 321 entries in the Automated Broker Interface using the 10-digit Harmonized Tariff Schedule number, Mullen said.
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The National Marine Fisheries Service will allow a period of “informed compliance” after compliance with new ACE filing requirements for certain species under the Seafood Import Monitoring Program takes effect Jan. 1, CBP said in a CSMS message. Entries rejected because of missing or incorrect SIMP data that cannot be resolved in a “timely manner” may be refiled under the same entry without the SIMP message set, the agency said. The entries will be released with a warning message as long as all other NMFS filing requirements are met, and the filer will be required to submit the correct SIMP information “as soon as possible.” Entries that are not corrected “in a timely manner” will be “targeted with a full chain of custody audit,” NMFS said.
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CBP should remove from its regulations a limit of "one shipment per day" for imports under $800, the National Association of Manufacturers said in comments to the agency about rules considered onerous (see 1712120024). That shipment limit goes against "modern business practices where manufacturers may need to import commodities, component[s] or other goods on a 'just in time' basis," NAM said. "Manufacturers recommend that CBP eliminate the one shipment per day provision to be consistent with the" Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act, which raised the dollar value of the de minimis threshold.
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ATLANTA -- CBP is waiting for NAFTA negotiations to “mature” before making a final decision on how it will handle Section 321 shipments, Acting Commissioner Kevin McAleenan said during opening remarks at the East Coast Trade Symposium on Dec. 5. Though the agency had “hoped to articulate a clear path forward” at the conference, the agency has to “let that dialogue play out with our key partners in Canada and Mexico,” he said.
RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. -- Any two-track solution to Section 321 filing in both the Automated Broker Interface and the Automated Manifest System must have the same data requirements in each, customs brokers said during a panel discussion at the Western Cargo Conference on Oct. 13. Requiring a more detailed data set, while maintaining the current stripped-down data elements in AMS, would mean filers would be incentivized to continue clearing Section 321 entries off the manifest, the brokers said.
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