The U.S. filed a motion for default judgment on Aug. 7 against importer E-Dong, U.S.A. in pursuit of $234,748.30 in lost revenue due to the importer's negligent failure to pay a federal excise tax on its "Korean distilled beverage soju." The government said E-Dong lied on customs forms by misclassifying the distilled liquor as rice wine, adding that these misstatements "constitute negligent violations for failure to exercise reasonable care and competence" (United States v. E-Dong, U.S.A., CIT # 24-00066).
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
Once the U.S.-Japan deal is put to paper, Japanese goods will be subject to a flat 15% tariff, as long as the most-favored nation tariff that applies is at that rate or lower. For goods above 15% MFN, just the typical duty will apply, with no additional reciprocal tariff.
A recent CBP ruling saying gold bars are subject to reciprocal tariffs has sent shock waves through the gold futures market this week, according to news reports.
A group of trade associations that includes restaurants, wine shops, domestic distillers and bottle providers asked the president to allow European wines and spirits to enter the U.S. duty-free, in the case of spirits, and under most-favored nation rates, for wines, rather than the 15% EU reciprocal tariff rate.
Global air cargo volumes grew 5% year-over-year in July as shippers may have sought to front load goods ahead of U.S. tariff deadlines or expedite shipping amid market uncertainties, said Xeneta, a Norway-based freight rate market analytics firm. The company thinks this means "more shippers opted for the speed of airfreight to help circumvent U.S. tariffs."
As importers seek to comply with the many tariffs that have been introduced or modified in recent months, they will need to be mindful of entry construction if their goods are eligible for duty drawback, according to Tim Vorderstrasse, a licensed customs broker with Flexport, speaking during his company's Aug. 6 webinar on tariffs.
A 40% tariff on transshipped goods could apply to goods that include third-country content above 30%, according to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, speaking on Fox Business Aug. 7.
Importers of automobiles and auto parts are facing a massive increase in compliance standards as the Trump administration's tariffs on automobiles force importers to reevaluate supply chains to find competitive advantage, compliance experts said during an Aug. 6 webinar.
CBP improperly classified importer Air Distribution USA's shisha molasses, also known as "hookah tobacco," as a type of "smoking tobacco" and erroneously subjected the shisha molasses to federal excise taxes on "pipe tobacco," Air Distribution argued in a complaint last month at the Court of International Trade (Air Distribution USA v. United States, CIT # 25-00063).