SAN DIEGO -- The rollout of ACE electronic foreign-trade zone capabilities set for Dec. 9 won’t include a comprehensive air split shipment filing mechanism as previously planned, CBP Cargo Security and Controls Director Jim Swanson said during the National Association of Foreign-Trade Zones conference Oct. 23. “It’s going to work exactly the way it is right now,” he said. “Nobody was really ready for it, and it didn’t do quite what we wanted it to do. There were some issues with how it communicated with manifest systems.”
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.
It’s unclear whether U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement (CFTA) provisions related to drawback, certificates of origin and import relief measures would spring back into force if the U.S. withdraws from NAFTA, according to a recent Q&A posted by the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America. NAFTA Implementation Act Section 107 states that some CFTA provisions will remain suspended until the suspension itself is terminated. This could mean that those suspensions would, by default, remain active in any post-NAFTA world, even though Canada and the U.S. formally agreed through a January 1993 exchange of letters to broadly suspend the operation of CFTA when NAFTA took effect, with the suspension “to remain in effect for such time as the two governments are Parties to NAFTA,” the NCBFAA said.
CBP is seeking comments by Dec. 19 on an existing information collection for free entry of returned American products, it said in a notice. CBP proposes to extend the expiration date of this information collection with no change to the information collected or to the estimated burden hours associated with the collection.
RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. -- CBP is “currently on schedule” with its development of ACE drawback capabilities set for deployment in February, Acting CBP Commissioner Kevin McAleenan said Oct. 13 at the Western Cargo Conference (WESCCON). The agency is “planning success but will have a back-up plan” for any hiccups associated with the drawback deployment, and will share any contingency plans with the trade community this fall, he said.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Oct. 2-6 in case they were missed.
With CBP regulations on new drawback procedures still not issued, software developers are growing concerned about whether they will be ready for the new system’s upcoming deployment in ACE. CBP has pledged to have capabilities in place for the new Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act drawback provisions on Feb. 24, but though the agency has found funding and begun its own programming efforts, software developers have been unable to start coding, leaving little time for testing before the deadline, several developers said in interviews.
CBP on Sept. 29 posted draft Customs and Trade Automated Interface Requirements (CATAIR) guidelines for drawback procedures under the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2016, it said in a message. The draft CATAIR is meant “to facilitate preparations for programming in advance of the forthcoming rulemaking,” CBP said. “The reader should be advised that this technical document is considered a DRAFT and is subject to revision before a final version is provided. Any decisions a reader makes based on this draft document are taken voluntarily and with the understanding that the draft may be revised,” it said.
A Porsche 911 imported from Canada but returned as faulty does not qualify for rejected or unused merchandise drawback because it lacks the required documentation and was used, CBP said in a Sept. 14 ruling. The importer did not provide sufficient proof that the sports car was defective, did not provide adequate notice of re-exportation to the port, and drove the vehicle before returning it, CBP said in ruling HQ H289069.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Aug. 28 - Sept. 1 in case they were missed.
CBP properly rejected a drawback claim due to an incomplete filing despite assurances from the filer that the requisite paperwork was actually included, the agency said in a June 12 ruling, HQ H275551. Argents Express Group protested CBP's initial rejection of the drawback claim in 2014 due to the lack of a "coding sheet" that is required for paper drawback claims. Despite subsequent efforts to provide the necessary items, CBP said Argents didn't meet the requirements for a drawback claim filing.