CBP “has procedures in place to address system issues and communicate with users” in the event of ACE system slowdowns or outages beginning on July 23, “just as we’ve had with ACS,” which will no longer be available for most filing after that date, CBP said in an update to transition procedures for the upcoming deadline (here). “Port downtime or workaround procedures will be implemented as determined by the Office of Field Operations, and guidance to the trade community will be timely communicated via the Cargo Systems Messaging Service (CSMS),” it said. “Filers should continue to work with the local port office regarding the movement of goods.”
The U.S. amended a request for World Trade Organization consultations it filed last week, adding chromium to its list of raw materials subject to contested Chinese export duties and a new section on Chinese export quotas for antimony, indium, magnesia, talc and tin, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said in a statement. Vital U.S. sectors use those elements to make aerospace, automotive, construction and electronics products, it said. China’s duties and quotas advantage Chinese industries at the expense of U.S. companies, USTR said. “The restraints we challenged last week, along with the ones we have included today, are part and parcel of the same troubling policy – one that provides advantages for China in important manufacturing sectors at the expense of the rest of the world,” U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said in a statement.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of July 11-17:
The legacy Automated Commercial System should remain available for filers following the July 23 mandatory use date for most remaining entry types in ACE, the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America said in a letter to CBP dated July 14 (here). Though CBP said it will begin decommissioning ACS on July 23 and the system will be unavailable as a backup (see 1605270002), ACS should remain available in cases of delays resulting from down time, slow processing or software issues, because costs to the trade community would be too great without the ACS fallback option, the NCBFAA said.
Vice President Joe Biden this week highlighted the Obama administration’s trade enforcement record, framing the U.S.’s filing against Chinese export taxes on raw materials at the World Trade Organization (see 1607130012) this week as a move to protect U.S. manufacturing and reverse harmful effects of globalization. “Not all effects of globalization are good, but what Americans have always done is they’ve always bent reality to benefit Americans and American workers,” he said during a July 13 speech at the Port of San Diego (here). He said the U.S. will continue to pursue cases against steel subsidization and dumping, including by China, adding that the administration has assessed $1.2 billion in duties on products from 40 countries believed to trade unfairly, and that it has won all 12 cases it has filed against China at the WTO.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of July 4-10:
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for July 5-8 in case they were missed.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of June 27 - July 3:
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a challenge brought by Hutchison Quality Furniture over deemed liquidations for imports of wooden bedroom furniture from China. The Court of International Trade dismissed the case in 2015 due to a lack of jurisdiction (see 1506100011). The appeals court said in the July 6 decision (here) that CIT was correct to dismiss the case because the "true nature" of Hutchison's suit involves protestable actions by CBP. Although Hutchison did file a protest, it was submitted by mistake and did not raise the issues involved in the case, the court said. "The record demonstrates that Hutchison not only could have filed a protest, but that it in fact did so after Customs liquidated its entries," it said.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for June 27 - July 1 in case they were missed.