'Exciting,' Sometimes 'Challenging' Time for Brokers, Says Kerlikowske

TUCSON, Ariz. -- The customs reauthorization law makes for an "exciting and perhaps challenging" time for customs brokers, CBP Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske said during a speech at the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America conference on April 20. He pointed to new requirements that brokers collect information on new and foreign importers and CBP's ability to revoke licenses due to terrorist involvement, as well as other pieces that will have the biggest effect on brokers. Kerlikowske was scheduled to testify on the new law for a Senate Finance Committee hearing scheduled for April 20, but it may be postponed so Kerlikowske can attend the funeral of a recently killed border agent, he said.

The fact that the hearing was scheduled shows the importance Congress sees in the new law, he said. More "withhold release orders" are coming as a result the law's treatment of imports made by forced or child labor, he said. The agency recently said it planned to layout its petition review process for whether to issue such orders (see 1604130033). CBP recently issued its first forced labor withhold release orders in over 15 years (see 1603310034).

Kerlikowske said he plans to step down at the end of year (see 1604200019). Having a Senate-confirmed commissioner of the agency is important on several levels and Kerlikowske urged industry to push the next administration to move quickly to nominate a commissioner. The "imprimatur" of a Senate confirmation makes for an easier path, both on negotiations with other countries, but also with interagency discussions, he said.

Feedback has been positive so far from lawmakers and industry on CBP's live entry requirements for steel imports seen as risky in terms of antidumping or countervailing duty collections, said Kerlikowske while speaking with reporters following his speech. "I haven't heard from a single member that doesn't say this is a priority issue," he said. CBP works closely with U.S. steel industry on the issue and is supportive of the measures too. "There's no question they really expect and will want to see increased enforcement," he said.

The recently released statistics on seizures for intellectual property rights violations show that e-commerce is "exploding," said Kerlikowske. Those statistics showed IPR seizures increasingly occur on goods sent through the express mode of transport, while such seizures of cargo is declining (see 1604150030). "Frankly, we miss quite a bit," he said. That's because "we don't have the personnel. We don't have the manifests in advance. At times we don't have the technology," said Kerlikowske. The increase of the de minimis level to $800 (see 1603100010) will make e-commerce "explode even more," he said. This raises several questions for CBP's role, such as whether it's "missing duties that you should be collecting," he said.