The Treasury Department published its fall 2020 regulatory agenda for CBP. The agenda now mentions a proposal to end the de minimis exemption for goods subject to Section 301 tariffs. The proposal was previously disclosed by the Office of Management and Budget (see 2009040026), where it remains under review. Brenda Smith, CBP executive assistant international trade commissioner, recently cited some operational concerns with the idea (see 2011100034).
Tim Warren
Timothy Warren is Executive Managing Editor of Communications Daily. He previously led the International Trade Today editorial team from the time it was purchased by Warren Communications News in 2012 through the launch of Export Compliance Daily and Trade Law Daily. Tim is a 2005 graduate of the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts and lives in Maryland with his wife and three kids.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published its fall 2020 regulatory agenda for CBP. The agenda includes no new trade actions.
The statute that authorizes CBP enforcement of a prohibition on imports made through forced labor may not be enough to stem mistreatment of Chinese Muslims in the Xinjiang region, the Congressional Research Service said in a Dec. 7 report. “Many experts agree that Section 307 is an important tool, but perhaps not sufficient to bring about policy changes in China given the scale and severity of the human rights crisis, which goes beyond forced labor to include mass arbitrary detention, mass surveillance, and other abuses,” it said. A recent withhold release order on Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps cotton was a major enforcement action by CBP and the government is considering additional steps (see 2012030021).
The Commerce Department will make some changes to processes used on requests for exclusion from the Section 232, it said in an interim final rule released Dec. 10. One change is meant to “create a more efficient method for approving exclusions where objections have not been received in the past for certain steel or aluminum articles,” it said. Through General Approved Exclusions (GAEs), Commerce will create exclusions “that may be used by any importing entity,” it said. The “change will result in an estimated immediate decrease of 5,000 exclusion requests annually, resulting in a significant improvement in efficiency, with the possibility of more in the future,” it said. “Unlike exclusion requests, GAEs do not include quantity limits.”
CBP posted multiple documents ahead of the Dec. 16 Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) meeting:
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The foreign inland freight costs in the country of export can't be deducted from the price paid or payable unless there is proof of sale for export and a through shipment from the factory, CBP said in an Oct. 27 ruling. The ruling request came from Cracker Barrel Old Country Store and sought CBP input on whether certain charges for services provided by Damco Customs Services Inc. should be included in the transaction value of the imported merchandise. The agency found that several other fees are allowed to be deducted from the transaction value.
Two CBP questionnaires focused on forced labor that reportedly were issued recently to importers (see 2012020046) are part of the agency's targeting work, an agency spokesperson said in a Dec. 3 email. CBP “assesses risks and communicates routinely with importers about their responsibility to exercise due diligence and reasonable care to ensure that the goods they import into the United States are compliant with federal laws and regulations, including those pertaining to forced labor,” he said. “As part of that outreach, CBP may solicit supply chain information to identify risks, target violative shipments, and ensure effective enforcement of U.S. trade laws and regulations.”
The “idea of a regional” withhold release order is “certainly not out of play,” Department of Homeland Security acting Deputy Secretary Ken Cuccinelli said during a Dec. 2 conference call to announce a WRO on Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps cotton (see 2012020071). Such an action remains “legally doable,” though it takes a different “quantum of evidence to accomplish,” he said. CBP previously considered XPCC and regional WROs, but declined to go ahead with those in September (see 2009140040).
CBP issued a withhold release order on all cotton products made by the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC), acting CBP Commissioner Mark Morgan said in a Dec. 2 call with reporters. “The WRO applies to all cotton and cotton products produced by the XPCC and its subordinate and affiliated entities as well as any products that are made in whole or in part with or derived from that cotton, such as apparel, garments, and textiles,” CBP said in a news release.