During a recent trade event1, CBP’s Acting Assistant and Deputy Commissioners discussed Acting Commissioner Aguilar's vision for the agency and the trade community in the face of current and future budget cuts. Officials state that CBP will continue to push its mission by reducing transaction costs and transforming the organization. CBP will do this by transitioning from "regulators" to "enablers" of trade. CBP will also need to harmonize its policies and regulations with its ACE efforts, address revenue-loss issues in the AD/CV collection system, and reset the penalty/mitigation process so that it is more efficient.
Latest Harmonized System updates
The Census Bureau has issued an AES Broadcast stating that effective immediately, the Harmonized Tariff Schedule tables in the Automated Export System have been updated to accept the changes to the 2012 codes, which largely result from World Customs Organization (WCO)-recommended changes that became effective in the HTS on February 3, 2012.
The February 3, 2012 U.S. Harmonized Tariff Schedule, which contains hundreds of World Customs Organization-recommended as well as other tariff changes, is now in effect. The print copy of this version is also available from the Government Printing Office (GPO).
The Government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices for January 29-Feb 1, 2012 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):
The International Trade Commission has posted what it now calls the "basic" online 2012 U.S. Harmonized Tariff Schedule, which contains hundreds of World Customs Organization-recommended as well as other tariff changes, with an effective date of February 3, 2012. The print copy of this version is also available from the Government Printing Office (GPO). While not in effect until February 3, sources have stated that it will be able to be used early without having ABI "kick out" the entry, as the entry summary is not due until 10 days later, which can be on a date that falls after February 3.
The International Trade Commission states that it will post the "official" online 2012 U.S. Harmonized Tariff Schedule, which contains hundreds of World Customs Organization-recommended as well as other tariff changes, 2-3 days early, which ITC sources state could occur on January 30. Sources also state that the print copy has gone to the Government Printing Office. While not in effect until February 3, 2012, sources note that the official HTS will be able to be used early without having ABI "kick out" the entry, as the entry summary is not due until 10 days later, which can be on a date that falls after February 3.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has released a joint statement from the January 23, 2012 meeting of the Dominican Republic-Central American-U.S. (DR-CAFTA) Free Trade Commission. During the meeting, the Commission determined it is timely to consider possible modifications and updates to the Agreement's rules of origin for non-textiles and non-apparel goods. It also reviewed the progress made on updating the DR-CAFTA rules of origin to correspond with the 2012 Harmonized System.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued a CSMS message announcing the issuance of Harmonized System Update 1201 on changes to the 2012 Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS). This update contains 9,350 ABI records and 2,155 harmonized tariff records.
The Census Bureau recently posted its list of Harmonized Tariff Schedule numbers that are invalid for use in the Automated Export System as of January 1, 2012. Schedule B numbers must be used for these invalid HTS numbers instead.
Census sources state that the Automated Export System mainframe, AESDirect, and AESPcLink have been updated for the 2012 Schedule B export codes, as well as the preliminary 2012 HTS import codes that took effect on January 1, 2012. While the Schedule B export codes reflect the January 1 WCO-recommended HS changes; the HTS import codes will be updated for the WCO changes no sooner than February 3. Sources add that there will be another 30-day grace period for the HTS WCO import code changes at that time.