In the Sept. 21 issue of the CBP Customs Bulletin (Vol. 50, No. 38) (here), CBP published notices that propose to revoke or modify rulings and similar treatment for the classification of children's fishing rod and reel combinations and refinery modules.
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.
International Chamber of Commerce Secretary General John Danilovich presented industry recommendations for a World Trade Organization e-commerce agreement at WTO’s annual Public Forum in Geneva on Sept. 28, the ICC announced (here). The proposal itself recommends that any e-commerce package include capacity building resources for developing economies, and reflect a WTO review of its telecommunications rules to remove non-tariff barriers, as well as a “light-touch” approach to regulation that allows entry of new businesses into the information and communications technology ecosystem, among other things.
U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman met with House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, and Trade Subcommittee Chairman Dave Reichert, R-Wash., on Sept. 27, to discuss moving the Trans-Pacific Partnership forward in Congress, the full committee announced (here). Brady in a statement said he wants to find a path forward for the deal in Congress, but lamented potential final outcomes if the Obama administration fails to address Congress members’ remaining concerns. “The White House must quickly address existing concerns of members who serve both on and off our committee,” Brady said. “Without these substantive changes, the House will not have the votes to approve TPP, and American workers will continue to lose customers to other countries. The clock is ticking, and the White House must act soon.”
Federal prosecutors filed a civil complaint against a garment importer, its executive and a clothing wholesaler for an alleged customs duty evasion scheme, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York said in a Sept. 23 news release (here). The importer, Yingshun Garments, "avoided paying millions of dollars in customs duties" by undervaluing garments on false invoices, the USAO said in the complaint (here). The complaint was the result of an investigation by CBP and ICE's Homeland Security Investigations, ICE said (here).
CBP should develop a separate "Section 321 module" for brokers to allow for easier manifest release requests on low-value imports regulated by other agencies, the Express Association of America said in comments to CBP (here). The comments were in response to CBP's regulatory changes to the de minimis value threshold (see 1608250029), a provision of the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act (TFTEA) of 2015. Among other questions, CBP sought information on how it should approach the "release from manifest" process, commonly known as a Section 321 procedure, for goods under the new $800 de minimis level when the manifest doesn't include information required by other agencies. Unlike express couriers, customs brokers currently cannot electronically designate Section 321 clearances via manifest (see 1605160030).
CBP is “well on the way” to implementing the majority of requirements of the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act (TFTEA) by the end of 2016, CBP Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske told members of the House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee during a Sept. 27 hearing (here). Still, "despite our best efforts" CBP is "delinquent in some areas of the deadlines,” he said. “But we’re working diligently in putting all of that into place.” Kerlikowske said he and his colleagues will keep Congress informed of the agency’s progress through the end of 2016.
A federal judge unsealed documents related to antidumping duty evasion allegations brought by a third party after the Department of Justice declined to get involved, recent court filings show. The lawsuit, brought by Customs Fraud Investigations (CFI), claimed that Mueller Industries and a subsidiary schemed to "fraudulently import its standard pipe as line pipe" to avoid antidumping duties on the product. The complaint, filed in 2014, was unsealed on Sept. 15 in U.S. District Court for the North District of Illinois Eastern Division.
The first meeting of the World Customs Organization's e-commerce working group included discussion of a wide range of issues, such as new revenue collection models and the potential for criminal exploitation, the WCO said in a news release (here). During the meetings in Brussels over Sept. 21-23, more than 175 delegates looked at the "opportunities and challenges stemming from the growing trade in e-commerce," the WCO said. "Participants agreed that e-commerce has changed the landscape for Customs: from a few well known importers and exporters, it now has to manage a large number of e-enabled exporters and importers that are not well-known, and which transactions may be irregular."
A coalition of domestic rebar manufacturers filed a petition on Sept. 19 with the Commerce Department and International Trade Commission, requesting new antidumping duties on steel concrete reinforcing bar from Japan, Taiwan and Turkey, and additional countervailing duties on steel-concrete reinforcing bar from Turkey. Commerce will now decide whether to begin AD/CVD investigations on these products that could result in the imposition of duties.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Sept.12-16 in case they were missed.