A recent revision to the tariff schedule changes treatment of goods returned after assembly from Canada or Mexico under subheading 9802.00.80, allowing products of the U.S. assembled in Canada or Mexico to enter duty free under USMCA.
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.
CBP may have trouble allowing importers to “remediate” forced labor issues, including by way of grace periods, before it prohibits imports of goods produced using forced labor, said Ana Hinojosa, executive director of CBP’s Trade Remedy and Law Enforcement Division, at the July 15 meeting of the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee. Hinojosa was responding to a COAC recommendation that CBP allow importers to attempt to address forced labor issues prior to any CBP withhold release order (WRO) taking effect (see 2007100030). That way, importers could use their leverage over suppliers to try to get their suppliers to change their practices. But by law, if CBP determines that goods are produced via forced labor, then imports of those goods are deemed prohibited, Hinojosa said. CBP does not have the discretion to have prohibited goods enter the U.S., she said.
CBP does not have the authority to extend deadlines for filing protests so that importers can claim refunds of Section 301 tariffs on goods granted exclusions well after liquidation, though a path to refunds may be possible via the reconciliation process, Ana Hinojosa, executive director of CBP’s trade remedy and law enforcement division, said during the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee's July 15 meeting.
CBP is working on a proposed rule to implement new Section 321 data collection processes piloted in ongoing low-value shipment data and Entry Type 86 tests, Acting Commissioner Mark Morgan said in opening remarks at the July 15 meeting of the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC). The new processes will incorporate lessons learned from those pilots, and bring the pilots to a close so CBP can open them up to more widespread participation, Morgan said.
The president must strictly adhere to statutory timelines when setting Section 232 tariffs, and can’t subsequently modify or adjust those tariffs beyond those legal deadlines without conducting another formal investigation, the Court of International Trade said in a July 14 decision. The court found that President Donald Trump acted outside of these deadlines when he raised tariffs on Turkish steel from 25% to 50% in August 2018 (see 1808100003), granting two importers refunds of duties collected as a result of the tariff increase.
The Commerce Department is finalizing its expansion of antidumping and countervailing duties on corrosion-resistant steel from China to also cover imports from Costa Rica and the United Arab Emirates, it said final determinations that bring to a close anti-circumvention inquiries covering the two countries. Commerce continued to find producers in Costa Rica and the UAE are taking hot-rolled steel and cold-rolled steel from China and turning it into corrosion-resistant steel before exporting it to the U.S., in circumvention of AD/CV duties.
CBP should “exercise discretion” when using its withhold release order (WRO) authority to address forced labor violations, leaving space for importers to use their leverage to get suppliers to change their illegal practices, the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) Intelligent Enforcement subcommittee said in draft recommendations released ahead of the July 15 COAC meeting.
An importer must pay nearly $1 million in penalties for customs fraud, after the Court of International Trade on July 9 found the importer knowingly misclassified its entries to save on duty, despite repeated instructions from CBP on the correct classification of the merchandise.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced a new round of product exclusions for products on the fourth list of Section 301 tariffs on products from China, as well as a series of modifications to current exclusions, including several for face masks, to reflect recent changes to the tariff schedule that took effect July 1.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will grant extensions to 12 exclusions from the first list of Section 301 tariffs on China that were due to expire July 9, it said in a notice. The 98 exclusions that weren't extended, all listed in U.S. Note 20(n) to subchapter III of chapter 99 and filed under subheading 9903.88.11, will expire July 9. The 12 extended exclusions will now expire Dec. 31, USTR said.