CBP will allow importers to continue to use Part 102 NAFTA marking rules for goods imported from Canada and Mexico, even though they are no longer a requirement for USMCA preferences, said James Kim, a lawyer with CBP’s Office of Regulations and Rulings currently working at the agency’s USMCA center, during a Zoom call following a panel discussion March 9.
Brian Feito
Brian Feito is Managing Editor of International Trade Today, Export Compliance Daily and Trade Law Daily. A licensed customs broker who spent time at the Department of Commerce calculating antidumping and countervailing duties, Brian covers a wide range of subjects including customs and trade-facing product regulation, the courts, antidumping and countervailing duties and Mexico and the European Union. Brian is a graduate of the University of Florida and George Mason University. He joined the staff of Warren Communications News in 2012.
FDA’s proposed rule on traceability requirements for high-risk foods needs some reworking to “reflect the unique characteristics of the import supply chain,” the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America said in Feb. 22 comments to the agency. As proposed, the requirements do not account for complex import supply chains, and changes are also necessary to account for the roles of parties within that supply chain to better reflect the import process, the NCBFAA said.
Automotive window parts imported by WKW Erbsloeh North America are subject to antidumping and countervailing duties on aluminum extrusions from China (A-570-967/C-570-968), the Commerce Department said in a recent scope ruling. While rubber window seals and rolled aluminum window trim are not aluminum extrusions and aren’t covered by the orders, other window components containing extruded aluminum are covered because they are components of a finished car, rather than “finished merchandise” on their own, Commerce said.
Blueberries will escape Section 201 safeguards, after the International Trade Commission on Feb. 11 voted that the domestic blueberry industry isn’t injured by a flood of imports. As a result of the ITC’s negative injury finding, the commission’s investigation will end, and it will not recommend any import restrictions to the president.
CBP will focus on getting through a backlog of Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism revalidations that it had been originally scheduled to perform in 2020 as it lays out its work plan for validations in 2021, said Manual Garza, CTPAT director at CBP’s Office of Field Operations, on a call with members of the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America on Feb. 3.
CBP can’t refund excise taxes mistakenly assessed on a wine importer as a result of an ACE processing error, the agency said in a ruling issued in 2019 but only publicly released on its ruling database Jan. 31, 2021. Despite the double assessment of excise tax having resulted from its own error, CBP held that its regulations only provide for refunds of excise taxes under certain circumstances, none of which apply to this particular situation. Instead, the importer must apply directly to the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, CBP said in HQ H294599.
FDA is setting a countrywide import alert on all alcohol-based hand sanitizers from Mexico that will allow the agency to stop and detain shipments at the border while it reviews their safety, FDA said by email Jan. 26. Prompted by a sharp increase in hand sanitizers from Mexico that purport to contain ethanol but tested positive for methanol contamination, Import Alert 62-08 is the first one issued countrywide on any category of drug product, FDA said.
The Commerce Department will put new aluminum import licensing regulations on hold and seek more comments on the program, it said in a notice released Jan. 25. “This delay in effective date is necessary to allow the incoming Administration time to review the Final Rule and consider any additional comments before implementation,” Commerce said. Comments on the final rule are now due Feb. 26. “Parties are invited to comment on all aspects of the Final Rule and” the Aluminum Import Monitoring and Analysis System, it said.
Disposable medical face masks assembled in Canada from components made in India, the U.S. and China are eligible for USCMA tariff treatment, CBP said in a ruling issued Dec. 18, 2020. While some components that determine the classification of the masks originate in India, those components undergo the relevant USCMA tariff shift rule, CBP said in HQ H315375.
Safeguard duties on large residential washers entered under a tariff-rate quota will fall to 15% on Feb. 8, 2021, and then 14% on Feb. 8, 2022, before the newly extended safeguards expire after Feb. 7, 2023, according to annexes to a presidential proclamation released Jan. 19 for publication in the Jan. 21 Federal Register.