CBP Auditors Preparing Outreach on Safeguard Tariff Enforcement

ATLANTA -- CBP auditors plan to work with a Center of Excellence and Expertise to provide more information "very soon" to industry on keeping in compliance with recent safeguard tariffs, Thomas Jesukiewicz, Long Beach field director in CBP's Regulatory Audit office. "My office and another office will be addressing one of the safeguards with a CEE, going out and start providing informed compliance and getting you ready," he said. Jesukiewicz and other CBP auditors spoke during a panel discussion at the CBP 2018 Trade Symposium on Aug. 15.

The point is to show importers what the auditors will be looking for, Jesukiewicz said. "We're going to make sure we look at the valuation, that you have the controls in place," he said. "Because when the duties hit, they're just going to hit you," he said. "It's a progressive approach. Providing informed compliance, getting out there, letting you know what's coming up, and then interpreting some of the complexities of these safeguards." The informed compliance will be provided through a pamphlet and then possibly a site visit, he said.

Companies that import goods already subject to antidumping or countervailing duties and that are also covered by safeguard duties will be more likely to see auditor scrutiny, he said. "If you're already paying dumping, or you're in an area of dumping, and you're going to hit the safeguard, you can expect your risk is ramped up quite a bit," he said. Risk assessments are constantly shifting based on legislative and executive mandates, said Robert McMillan, executive director of the Regulatory Audit office.

The additional risks around the growth in e-commerce shipments have created some mostly unanswered questions for CBP's auditors, said Kevin Bridgford, Chicago field director in the Regulatory Audit office. "We're all trying to get our arms around this issue," he said. "Eventually regulatory audit will look into this program and the importations coming through it," but right now the agency is still waiting for regulations, Bridgford said. "We're not quite sure who we're going to audit" within an e-commerce transaction, he said. There's ongoing work within CBP's offices, but "we're not quite there yet as far as what Regulatory Audit is going to do," Bridgford said. The auditors may take a look at de minimis shipments "sooner than later" involving multiple shipments going to the same place, he said.

While CBP still performs focused assessments, the agency is increasingly using surveys and looking at wider industry trends beforehand unless there's a clear risk, Jesukiewicz said. Before CBP conducts "a major comprehensive review and puts those resources in, first we want to see what's happening to the major players," he said. Among the top issues found in broker audits are those that involve billing practices with freight forwarders and powers of attorney, said Amy Moore, Atlanta field director in the Regulatory Audit office. In most cases, broker audits are spurred by referrals from the broker management offices in the CEEs, she said.