CBP Should Require Live Entry for Importers Who Owe AD/CV Duties, COAC Agrees

CBP should require live entry for imports requiring antidumping and countervailing duty payments for importers that have unresolved non-payments of duties at the time of entry summary, or that haven’t paid an increased duty bill within 60 days of issuance, the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee said in a recommendation approved at its Nov. 14 meeting in Washington. But the live entry for non-payment of duty increases should exempt importers with protest issues that can be filed within 180 days of duty of the rate advance, the COAC said. CBP should also establish and publish its policy for removing an importer from live entries after they rectify any payment problems, or demonstrate the importer wasn’t at fault for any late filing or payment in instances like technical or processing errors, it said.

CBP also should set up a separate supplemental AD/CVD bond system, either requiring single-transaction or continuous bonds, and should require the supplemental bonds to secure the potential shift in AD/CV duty rates for an estimated 420 active AD/CV duty orders, the COAC said. The supplemental bond should have a separate activity code. The COAC Trade Enforcement and Revenue Collection Subcommittee will submit a white paper to CBP with recommendations for how the supplemental AD/CV duty bond would be calculated and automated as an eBond in ACE, the subcommittee said.

COAC also agreed to a recommendation that CBP should expand the Automated Surety Interface (ASI) to include entry summary line item details and AD/CV duty 10-digit case numbers so sureties can properly manage and underwrite the risk and help counter AD/CV duty evasion. The automation shouldn’t require additional funding, and the change can be made as part of the ASI’s conversion to ACE set for February 2018, the recommendation says. To help manage the potential risk of importer default to CBP, the agency through its eBond module should also notify sureties of importers that are sanctioned by CBP and when importers are put on live entry, as well as of importers that immediately default on payment of periodic monthly statements, and of when CBP issues Notices of Action (Form 29), Notices to Redeliver Merchandise (Form 4647), and prior disclosures related to non-payment of AD and CV duty orders, COAC said.

CBP should monitor accumulation of estimated AD/CV duty amounts accruing on unpaid monthly statements against the amounts of the corresponding bonds securing the payments to ensure bond efficiency, the COAC said. Additionally, the agency should provide sureties the ability to add and maintain current names and addresses of importers, according to a COAC recommendation.

COAC also approved several recommendations covering CBP forced labor enforcement, including a suggestion that CBP formulate clearer instructions in its requests for information (RFI) (CBP Form 28), noting that some requests are “more akin to an audit of an importer’s entire supply chain and sourcing factors rather than a [RFI] related to one set of transactions and/or supplier.” CBP should seek additional input from the COAC's forced labor working group on how CF 28s "are being handled uniformly at all centers of excellence and expertise,” the recommendation says. Also, CBP should work with interagency partners to create a “U.S. Goods Forced Labor Accountability Matrix” outlining different government agencies involved with overseas forced labor eradication efforts, in order to promote better understanding of those agencies’ roles, responsibilities and authorities, the COAC said. “This Matrix is a high priority for the trade and should be reviewed with the Forced Labor Working Group prior to the next COAC meeting,” it said.