Fiscal year 2018 Homeland Security spending legislation released by the Senate Appropriations Committee Nov. 21, directs $38 million to support ACE core functionality and $5 million for ACE enhancements, language that wasn’t included in similar legislation that passed the House in September (see 1709150052). “It is clear that additional system development is needed to continue to facilitate interactions with vendors and importers,” the committee said in an explanatory statement of the bill. Fully automating CBP Form 214 (Application for Foreign-Trade Zone Admission and/or Status Designation) would be an example of such an enhancement, the summary says. CBP plans to roll out FTZ admission capabilities in ACE by Dec. 9 (see 1709110034).
Customs Duty
A Customs Duty is a tariff or tax which a country imposes on goods when they are transported across international borders. Customs Duties are used to protect countries' economies, residents, jobs, and environments, by limiting the flow of imported merchandise, especially restricted and prohibited goods, into the country. The Customs Duty Rate is a percentage determined by the value of the article purchased in the foreign country and not based on quality, size, or weight.
An importer’s late Generalized System of Preferences refund request should be denied, even though it was caused by a misunderstanding with its customs broker, CBP said in a recent ruling. Industrial Chemicals argued the late filing for a refund for duties it paid during the recent lapse in the GSP program was a protestable “mistake of fact or other inadvertence” and should be excused, CBP said. In ruling HQ H286298, issued Oct. 13, CBP held that there was no mistake on the agency’s part when it enforced the statutory 180-day deadline for filing retroactive GSP claims.
CBP should require live entry for imports requiring antidumping and countervailing duty payments for importers that have unresolved non-payments of duties at the time of entry summary, or that haven’t paid an increased duty bill within 60 days of issuance, the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee said in a recommendation approved at its Nov. 14 meeting in Washington. But the live entry for non-payment of duty increases should exempt importers with protest issues that can be filed within 180 days of duty of the rate advance, the COAC said. CBP should also establish and publish its policy for removing an importer from live entries after they rectify any payment problems, or demonstrate the importer wasn’t at fault for any late filing or payment in instances like technical or processing errors, it said.
US Willing to Negotiate Bilateral FTAs With Any APEC Country as Non-US TPP Moves Forward, Trump Says
The U.S. is willing to negotiate bilateral trade agreements on the basis of fairness and reciprocity with “any country” in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) group region, President Donald Trump told other nations’ leaders during the 25th annual APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting on Nov. 11 in Da Nang, Vietnam, according to a White House fact sheet. Trump's remarks come after trade ministers from the now 11 Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP-11) member states on Nov. 9 and 10, in Da Nang, Vietnam, reached an agreement to implement the deal without the U.S., which withdrew in January (see 1701300020).
The government of Canada recently issued the following trade-related notices as of Nov. 8 (some may also be given separate headlines):
In the Nov. 1 Customs Bulletin (Vol. 51, No. 44), CBP published notices that propose to modify rulings and similar treatment for a handbag and tote bag and aliskiren hemifumarate.
A trade bill landed in British Parliament Nov. 7 that would lay the groundwork for a post-Brexit United Kingdom to be a part of more than 40 existing EU trade agreements as an individual entity, and a customs bill changing duties on goods is expected to be introduced to Parliament soon, the UK Department for International Trade (DIT) announced. The trade bill would establish an independent UK Trade Remedies Authority (TRA), ensure the UK government has legal abilities for gathering and sharing trade information, and enable the UK to independently join and implement the World Trade Organization Government Procurement Agreement (GPA), including the revised GPA. The TRA would be authorized to provide analysis of trade remedies imposed in other countries or territories, and of the impact of such measures on UK producers and exporters, the bill text says. The bill would enter into force on the day Parliament passes it.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Oct. 30-Nov. 3 in case they were missed.
In the Nov. 1 Customs Bulletin (Vol. 51, No. 44), CBP published notices that propose to modify rulings and similar treatment for wooden furniture and disposable knives.
The government of Canada recently issued the following trade-related notices as of Nov. 3 (some may also be given separate headlines):