Trade Remedies Slowing Issuance of Rulings, CBP's Smith Tells AAEI

CBP's Office of Regulations and Rulings is facing a massive increase in ruling requests involving products from China, in addition to its need to weigh in on exclusion requests, CBP Assistant Commissioner Brenda Smith said June 28 at the American Association of Exporters and Importers Annual Conference in Washington. The trade remedy exclusion requests are reviewed by OR&R "because of the tariff classification inherent in the application and then in the final determination," she said. Exclusion requests for the Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum are now at about 80,000, well above the 10,000 that were expected when first announced, she said. That's not counting the exclusion request processes now available for the first three tranches of Section 301 tariffs on goods from China, she said.

Adding to all of that is the increase in ruling requests related to the remedies, she said. There have not been so many ruling requests involving the Section 232 tariffs, "but we absolutely are seeing an increase -- I think it's about a 100 percent increase -- in the ruling requests for the Chinese products that are subject to the remedies," Smith said. There are about 100 attorneys and about 100 import specialists in OR&R, she said. The "staffing levels are actually doing pretty well," and CBP received some new staffing funds under the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act, Smith said. "But I will tell you it's not enough," she said.

The agency continues to meet the benchmark goal for New York rulings of a 30-day turnaround, she said. There's no similar benchmark for headquarters rulings, which are more complex, Smith said. Smith asked for patience in waiting for the HQ rulings, which can sometimes take multiple years, and said that she can always find a desk for more personnel if industry wants to push for more funding.

CBP will be taking a look at how to address e-commerce from multiple angles in the near future, Smith said. "We will be working to ensure we understand who the players are," and CBP recently mapped out the "five supply chains that are producing most e-commerce transactions and then identified the potential data elements that we could collect to help address risk," she said. "No, this is not 42 new data elements. It is a limited data set from the right party at what we believe is the right time in the process." The agency will do a "further operational test probably across the course of the fall," Smith said. "We believe that that will help us identify who is actually sending the good and what the good actually is," she said.

Smith offered some support for Department of Homeland Security Acting Secretary Kevin McAleenan, who is facing some criticisms over his role in immigration enforcement efforts. "If you're like me, and many of you have made this comment to me, you're really glad he is where he is," she said. "So we will keep our fingers crossed and keep supporting him." Smith also offered praise for incoming Acting CBP Commissioner Mark Morgan (see 1906270025). Smith previously worked alongside Morgan when he was in charge of Border Patrol, and he was "very active in his support for a lot of my issues, so I take that as a good sign," she said. Smith stepped in to speak for previous Acting CBP Commissioner John Sanders, who had resigned earlier in the week.