Canada's proposed "last sale" change to its customs valuation practice could present a host of problems for customs brokers, law firm Neville Peterson said in a blog post. If the regulatory change, which would require imports to be assessed duties according to the price of their "sale for export," is approved, brokers would have to examine resales to accurately file entries and would "no doubt be required to file many post-importation adjustments," the firm said.
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.
Chinese online shopping platform Temu has no procedures to comply with the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which “all but guarantees” imports from the company violate the UFLPA, the House Select Committee on China said this week. In a new report, the committee said both Temu and Chinese online retailer Shein “rely heavily” on the de minimis exception when shipping packages to the U.S., allowing them to avoid CBP scrutiny of potential forced labor violations.
Canada's proposal to alter its customs valuation policy to value imports according to the price of their "last sale" or "sale for export" not only would be bad for business, it "could also be illegal," lawyers at Sandler Travis said in a June client alert. The firm said the proposal is contrary to Canadian court precedent and the World Trade Organization's Customs Valuation Code that identifies the sale for export as the one in which "title is passed to the importer of the goods."
South Korean company Anyclo International pleaded guilty to evading customs duties on clothing it imported, agreeing to a civil settlement with the U.S. under which it will pay $2.05 million to the U.S. in restitution, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey announced. A $250,000 criminal fine also was levied. Anyclo will pay the settlement, plus interest, over 15 months to resolve potential charges under the False Claims Act.
The Court of International Trade on June 14 granted importer Maple Leaf Marketing's bid to redesignate the U.S.'s counterclaim as a defense in a customs spat on the classification of boronized steel tubing. Dismissing Maple Leaf's bid to dismiss as moot, Judge Claire Kelly cited the court's Cyber Power Systems (USA) v. U.S. decision to find that nowhere in Congress' scheme on the classification of goods does the legislative body explicitly let the U.S. "assert a counterclaim challenging CBP's classification."
A bill that approves the Taiwan trade initiative, but says it cannot take effect until the administration submits an economic analysis of its effects and answers questions from Congress on implementation, passed out of the House Ways and Means Committee on a 42-0 vote.
Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., Agriculture Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., and three Republican senators reintroduced the China Trade Cheating Restitution Act to require CBP to pay interest on distributions of antidumping duties and countervailing duties to domestic producers under the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act, which applies to entries prior to Sept. 30, 2007.
Customs modernization legislation should not just offer new tools for CBP to stop unlawful trade is the argument from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a dozen other groups involved in importing and exporting. The groups have 18 asks, laid out in a detailed five-page paper they sent to the leaders of the committees that will shape the bill.
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The Commerce Department issued notices in the Federal Register on its recently initiated antidumping duty investigations on brass rod from Brazil, India, Israel, Mexico, South Korea and South Africa (A-351-859, A-533-915, A-508-814, A-201-858, A-580-916, A-791-828), and its countervailing duty investigations on brass rod from India, Israel and South Korea (C-533-916, C-508-815, C-580-917). The CVD investigation covers entries for the calendar year 2022. The AD investigations cover entries April 1, 2022, through March 31, 3023.