CBP Releases Q2 Trade Newsletter, Next COAC in Savannah, Etc.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection released its Trade Newsletter for the 2012 second quarter. The newsletter provides and update on Re-engineering Dumping efforts, CBP's Text/Apparel Policy division meetings around the U.S. and expectations for information on the final tuna quota limit. The newsletter also said the COAC will meet in Savannah, Georgia in May.

Final Tuna Quota Limit Expected in April

The publication said the tariff rate quota (TRQ) for tuna exceeded preliminary restraint limit at the January 3, 2012, opening. All entries presented at the over-quota rate since have been charged and may be released. Entries should continue to be submitted at the over-quota rate. The final quota limit is expected to be released this month in the Federal Register upon receipt of the quota limit from the National Marine Fisheries Service.

On the Road with the Textiles/Apparel (T/APP) Policy and Programs

• January 2012
  • T/APP Division Director and Policy Branch Chief visited the North Carolina plants of U.S. yarn producers Parkdale Mills and Unifi, two of the largest yarn producers in the world.
• February 2012
  • T/APP joined the U.S. Government “Pathways to Prosperity” team headed by the Department of Commerce to present a seminar program on customs border management and trade facilitation in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. The focus of the project is public/private sector collaboration for the more efficient movement of goods and compliance with CAFTA-DR rules and regulations.
  • T/APP Policy and Operations Branches provided detailed training on the textile and apparel preference rules and verification procedures to CAFTA-DR government counterparts in Washington, DC. Each CAFTA-DR country sent one customs official and one ministry of economy official to take part in the training offered through SIECA (Secretaria de Integración Económica Centroamericana), funded by USAID.
  • Members from the Office of International Trade (OT), the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), and USDA’s Foreign Agriculture Service (FAS) provided Tariff-Rate Quota (TRQ) training in Bogota, Colombia, during the week of February 13, 2012. OT staff provided technical assistance on administration of the First Come - First Served (FC-FS) TRQ system. Meetings were held with high ranking government officials from trade, customs, agriculture and health to discuss Colombia’s processing of TRQs using the FC-FS method. The outcome of this training is to increase exports for U.S. products to new markets and Colombian exports into the U.S. About 80 members of the Colombian government attended a half-day training session. The next day, about 80 importers attended a meeting to explain how the U.S. and Colombia FC-FS TRQ processing works.

Upcoming Events

• On April 9th, Maria Luisa O’Connell will join Acting Commissioner David Aguilar, Acting Deputy Commissioner Thomas Winkowski, and senior leadership to host a Trade Day meeting with the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM).

• On April 10th, Trade Day meetings will continue with the American Association of Exporters and Importers (AAEI) and the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA).

• On April 25th, CBP will participate in the 38thNational Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America (NCBFAA) Annual Conference, in Hollywood, FL.

• On May 22nd, CBP’s Acting Commissioner David Aguilar and Timothy Skud, the Department of Treasury’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Tax, Trade and Tariff Policy, will host the Commercial Operations Advisory Committee’s (COAC) second public meeting of the year in Savannah, GA. Among the issues the COAC will highlight are Trade Facilitation, One U.S. Government at the Border, and Land Border Initiatives.
• On June 4th, CBP will participate in the American Association of Exporters and Importers (AAEI) Annual Conference, in Arlington, VA.
• On June 20-21st, CBP will participate in the 7th Advanced Forum on Import Compliance and Enforcement, in Washington, D.C.

Re-Engineering Dumping (RED) Team Accomplishments

• Efforts to study the regulatory and logistical import process for entries subject to AD/CVD and then identifying the challenges within each step has already yielded some results. So far the RED team has:
  • Developed a five-year AD/CVD enforcement strategy
  • Created specific scenarios to promote use of Single Transaction Bonds for AD/CVD evasion at CBP ports
  • Implemented a new SOP to proactively enforce AD/CVD cases
  • Conducted the first joint CBP-DOC training webinar for CBP field staff on AD/CVD cases
  • Enhanced coordination with DOC to provide more timely and regular comments on proposed scope of investigations
  • Tested national automated tools to provide more efficient means to process AD/CVD entries and instructions
• The RED team is also continuing work on other high priority areas, such as validating claims of transshipment through production verification teams, and determining the best ways to ensure that importers of merchandise subject to AD/CVD have the right to make entry. The RED team is expanding industry outreach and jointly working with the newly formed AD/CVD subcommittee of the Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of Customs and Border Protection (COAC). The COAC has recommended that a prospective AD/CVD system be established to allow CBP to focus more resources on AD/CVD enforcement

U.S-Korea Free Trade Agreement

On March 15, 2012, the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement (UKFTA) entered into force. The UKFTA was originally signed in 2007, and was ratified by Congress in October 2011. The agreement is meant to enhance the competitiveness of U.S. businesses in Korea, the world’s 12th largest economy, and to increase opportunities for U.S. businesses and workers through improved access for their products and services in foreign markets. CBP plays an integral role in the implementation and enforcement of trade agreements, such as the UKFTA, which provide duty-free or reduced duty access to the U.S. market for qualifying merchandise.