Importers of products covered by the new third set of 10 percent Section 301 tariffs on China will file under two new tariff provisions in Chapter 99 beginning at 12:01 a.m. EDT on Sept. 24, according to a notice published Sept. 21 by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. New subheading 9903.88.03 will cover the vast majority of new products subject to tariffs that fall in 8-digit subheadings fully subject to Section 301 tariffs. New subheading 9903.88.04, on the other hand, covers a set of 11 8-digit subheadings that are only partially covered and have exceptions at the 10-digit level.
Drawback
A duty drawback is a refund by CBP of the duties, taxes, or fees paid on imported goods, which were imposed upon importation as prescribed in 19 U.S.C. 1313(d). More broadly, a drawback also includes the refund or remission of other excise taxes pursuant to other provisions of law.
Multiple conservative-aligned groups called for CBP to change course on the agency's proposed plans to eliminate duty drawback for excise taxes. Those groups, including Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform and the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, filed comments on the proposed changes for drawback under the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act (see 1808020049). The question of ending drawback for excise taxes on domestically produced goods that are exported free of excise taxes, a practice used by the wine industry for years to the envy of other industries paying excise taxes (see 1708090043), was the biggest area of contention among comments filed in the docket.
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The government is opposing a bid by a group of importers to have CBP issue interim drawback regulations that would allow the agency to begin processing claims under the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act, according to recent court filings. Though those importers hope interim calculation procedures can be issued as soon as October (see 1808280037), the government said the drawback calculation provisions are “not easily divorced” from the rest of a recent proposed rule, and urged the Court of International Trade to let the rulemaking process proceed normally.
CBP provided some instructions for transmitting manual entry summaries. While manual entry summaries are not transmitted through the Automated Broker Interface, they are accepted into ACE, it said. The document and timeliness requirements are the same for non-ABI entry summaries as for other entry summaries. CBP will give the invoice, which serves as the release notification, to the non-ABI filer after a CBP review, it said. CBP will also allow lineless non-ABI entry summary input for "the following entry types: 01, 04, 05, 08, and 11 (consolidated) transactions only, 21, 22, 24, 25, and 31," CBP said. "U.S. Virgin Island ports only may use lineless Non-ABI Entry Summary input for the following entry types; excluding only Quota, AD/CVD, Reconciliation, Drawback and Vessel Repair: 01, 06, 08, 11, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 31, 51, and 52."
The Court of International Trade on Sept. 6 ruled against several petroleum importers seeking drawback on taxes and fees, finding CBP correctly denied the claims because the importers did not include amounts for merchandise processing fee, harbor maintenance tax and excise taxes. Following precedent set by the Federal Circuit over the past 20 years, CIT said the importers were required to file a complete claim within the three years after export, and that the complete claim must include the full amount of drawback requested.
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CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
CBP could begin processing drawback claims as soon as October if all goes according to the plans of a group of customs brokers and importers challenging CBP’s failure to meet a February deadline, said John Peterson of Neville Peterson, who represents those brokers and importers in the case at the Court of International Trade.
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