In recent editions of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted (here):
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.
While the president doesn’t have express constitutional authority to modify tariffs, several congressionally approved statutes give the White House authority to change tariffs based on a findings that other countries’ exports to the U.S. pose a threat, according to a recently released Congressional Research Service (CRS) report (here). But such delegations of power usually accompany clearly defined conditions and often include time restrictions, the report said.
CBP published the quarterly Internal Revenue Service interest rates used to calculate interest on overdue accounts (underpayments) and refunds (overpayments) of customs duties (here). For the quarter which began Oct. 1 and ends Dec. 31, the interest rates for overpayments will be 3 percent for corporations and 4 percent for non-corporations, and the rate for underpayments will be 4 percent for corporations and non-corporations. These interest rates are subject to change for the calendar quarter beginning Jan. 1 and ending March 31, CBP said.
President Barack Obama on Dec. 8 signed H.R. 4902, legislation that allows any law enforcement officer working for CBP Air and Marine Operations to be compensated for working outside scheduled duty. The enacted legislation will allow the employees to receive “availability pay,” which is a premium pay reserved for federal law enforcement officers who are criminal investigators often required to work or be available to work several hours of unscheduled duty. Previous law specified that pilots working for the U.S. Customs Service were eligible for the availability pay, according to the bill text (here). The legislation will take effect on the first day of the first applicable pay period, on or after Dec. 22.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Dec. 5-9 in case they were missed.
The incoming Trump administration could mean more funding and a greater enforcement focus for CBP, but the prospect of stricter trade enforcement could complicate day-to-day operations, analysts said in recent interviews. The presidential transition will cost the trade community mainly in terms of immediate uncertainty within industry and between the U.S. and its trading partners, as well as any regulatory “adjustments” that CBP might make, said David Aguilar, former CBP acting commissioner and current principal at Global Security and Innovative Strategies. But CBP’s trade funding and basic structures like the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee will likely remain intact, he said.
In recent editions of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted (here):
CBP is unlikely to make new adverse inferences about companies that are unaware of antidumping or countervailing duty evasion allegations and don't respond to information requests, said Carrie Owens, acting CBP director of operations for Enforce and Protect Act and E-Allegations. Owens discussed the EAPA procedures and the use of adverse inference (see 1608190014) during a panel at the East Coast Trade Symposium on Dec. 2. "If a party is not aware it is being requested information pursuant to an EAPA investigation, my personal view is I'm unsure how we would then apply an adverse inference to that," she said. That includes responsiveness to Customs Form 28 that CBP may issue as part of the investigation, Owens said.
New questions about renegotiating NAFTA (see 1611220044) after President-elect Donald Trump takes office are unlikely to affect past and ongoing work toward a North American Single Window, U.S. and Mexican customs officials said during CBP's East Coast Trade Symposium on Dec. 1. "I don't regard any threat on that issue," Ricardo Chapo, administrator general of Mexican customs, said during a meeting with reporters. CBP Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske said that while CBP would weigh in on any possible changes to NAFTA, those discussions and decisions fall outside of CBP's portfolio. "We know there will be changes," Kerlikowske said of CBP under the new administration. "We know things will be looked at differently, but I think any fair evaluation of the last eight years" would demonstrate numerous successes for trade within North America.
Members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) group agreed to refrain from imposing customs duties on electronically transmitted content, committed to not competitively devalue currencies, and adopted a set of best practices to protect trade secrets, according to a White House fact sheet (here) recapping the Nov. 18-20 APEC summit in Lima. The best-practices document (here) suggests that APEC members apply broad standing to claims for the protection of trade secrets and enforcement against their theft; outlines standards for remedies, penalties, and civil and criminal liability for trade secrets theft; and recommends adoption of “written measures” to better protect against further disclosure when governments require submission of trade secrets. “The progress achieved today at APEC is an important step in the right direction,” U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said in a Nov. 21 statement (here). “We look forward to working with countries in the Asia-Pacific to raise standards for trade secret protection and enforcement, including the adoption of these best practices.”