Trade ministers from the U.S., Japan, the EU, Canada, the U.K., France, Germany and Italy said they will work for "necessary reform" at the World Trade Organization, including trying to reach an agreement to restore "a fully and well-functioning dispute settlement system accessible to all Members by 2024."
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.
The Congressional Research Service described how the Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis system and the newer Aluminum Import Monitoring system have functioned in recent years. The report, published last week, noted that SIMA was updated in 2020 so that importers have to disclose where a semi-finished product or a finished steel product was melted and poured.
A proposal to amend the Seafood Import Monitoring Regulations to require the importer of record to hold the International Fisheries Trade Permit and require foreign importers of record to appoint a U.S. resident agent to hold the IFTP would upend "longstanding commercial practices" with "no measurable improvement in SIMP supply chain tracking," the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America said in comments to the National Marine Fisheries Service dated March 17.
The statute of limitations in customs penalties runs from the date of entry, not from the date that the importer directed the violation to be committed, the Court of International Trade said in a March 31 decision that denied a motion to dismiss a fraud case against Florida businessman Zhe "John" Liu (U.S. v. Zhe "John" Liu, CIT # 22-00215).
CBP is continuing work with a “pool of entry filers” to test automated processes “that can help entry filers identify potential errors” related to antidumping and countervailing duties, Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee member Matt Zehner said at the COAC’s March 29 meeting in Seattle. The processes could potentially allow the trade to correct entries with AD/CVD at a “much earlier stage in the process,” Zehner said. The COAC and CBP also are discussing how the trade community could be better informed with AD/CVD orders requiring an importer certification, and are looking to “facilitate the entry filing of that certification” so that the certifications are “evident in ACE,” he said.
The Court of International Trade on March 29 dismissed a lawsuit from cell phone case maker Otter Products seeking interest on customs duty overpayments, finding it lacked jurisdiction to hear the case. Judge Claire Kelly held that the Administrative Procedure Act waiver of sovereign immunity only applies to interest on deposits linked with liquidated entries. As a result, there is no specific waiver of immunity related to Otter's claim for interest for its overpayments on tendered prior disclosures "under the no-interest rule," Kelly said.
CBP can confer classification "treatment" on a good through consistent decisions at a single port, the Court of International Trade ruled March 24. Finding importer Kent International's imported child safety seats for bicycles should be classified as seats rather than bicycle parts, Judge Leo Gordon agreed with Kent that the Port of New York/Newark's consistent classification of them as seats constituted treatment on a "national basis" because the standard does not require treatment to have been applied at multiple ports, only that CBP not take inconsistent actions over a two-year period.
Ten trade groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Foreign Trade Council, the Express Association of America, the American Chemistry Council and the Coalition of Services Industries, are asking President Joe Biden to bring up businesses' concerns about changes to customs procedures, chemical regulations and digital services taxes.
The Court of International Trade doesn’t have jurisdiction to hear a case involving a textile company’s dispute with CBP, saying the company sought relief under the wrong statute, Judge Timothy Stanceu held in a March 10 opinion. The trade court found Printing Textiles, doing business as Berger Textiles, didn’t show why the denied protest challenge should be filed under Section 1581(i), the court's "residual" jurisdiction, and not Section 1581(a). Berger filed a notice of appeal the next business day.
A new bill introduced in the Senate March 15 would dramatically increase penalties for fraud and gross negligence and create a new pathway for civil lawsuits against customs violators from companies, labor unions and trade associations that have been injured by customs fraud.