An advance notice of proposed rulemaking on customs broker continuing education requirements (see 2009140033) is scheduled for publication in the Federal Register on Oct. 28, said John Leonard, CBP executive director-trade policy and programs, during the virtual Western Cargo Conference on Oct. 23. The advance notice will be available for preview on the public inspection site on Oct. 27, he said. “It's a great ANPRM, if I do say so myself.”
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.
A potential expansion of CBP authority under the Enforce and Protect Act that would apply to malfeasance beyond the evasion of antidumping or countervailing duties will be part of the agency's 21st Century Customs Framework discussion, CBP Executive Assistant Commissioner for International Trade Brenda Smith said during an Oct. 21 conference call with reporters. Smith last year mentioned the possibility of an expanded authority (see 1907240025). Currently, CBP uses the EAPA processes only to investigate AD/CV duty evasion.
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from Oct. 13-16 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
CBP issued a forced labor finding on imports of stevia from China, it said in a notice released Oct. 19. It's the first time a finding has been issued since 1996, according to a list of CBP actions. The forced labor finding applies to “stevia extracts and derivatives, mined, produced, or manufactured” in China by the Inner Mongolia Hengzheng Group Baoanzhao Agriculture, Industry and Trade Co., Ltd., CBP said. The finding follows a withhold release order issued in 2016 on Baoanzhao (see 1605310019) that resulted in the first CBP penalty for forced labor (see 2008140016). CBP has ratcheted up its use of authorities this year under provisions to stop goods made with forced labor (see 2009140040).
There is some industry concern that a proposal to end the de minimis exemption to Section 301 goods isn't considered “economically significant,” an executive following the issue said. CBP submitted to the Office of Management and Budget a proposed rule titled “Excepting Merchandise Subject to Section 301 Duties from the Customs De Minimis Exemption,” according to OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs website (see 2009040026).
There is “substantial evidence” MSeafood used evasion to avoid antidumping duties on imported frozen shrimp, CBP said in an Oct. 13 final determination notice released by the Southern Shrimp Alliance (SSA). MSeafood, a U.S. importer affiliated with Vietnamese shrimp company Minh Phu Seafood, was accused of evading an AD order on frozen shrimp from India through transshipment by the Ad Hoc Shrimp Trade Enforcement Committee in 2019 (see 2001150041).
New legislation and bigger fines are among measures mentioned in an Oct. 13 presidential memorandum aimed at stopping imports of counterfeit goods through e-commerce platforms. CBP should seize counterfeit goods imported into the U.S. and impose the “maximum fines and civil penalties permitted by law on any e-commerce platform that directs, assists with, or is in any way concerned in the importation into the United States of counterfeit goods,” President Donald Trump said in the memo.
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from Oct. 5-9 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
Battery-powered electric bikes assembled in China from mostly Taiwanese parts are considered to be a product of Taiwan, CBP said in a Sept. 24 ruling. Yamaha Motor Corp. USA requested a CBP ruling on the country of origin of the electric bikes. Among the parts that are of Chinese origin are the batteries, “saddle seat, clips, fasteners, and brackets,” it said.
There is a desire for more “uniformity” for country of origin and marking under USMCA, similar to the rules in Part 102 of NAFTA, said Heidi Bray, manager-U.S. and global customs compliance for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. Bray and other Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee members mentioned a variety of USMCA “challenges” during the Oct. 7 COAC meeting. She said she thinks it would be a good idea to bring back a USMCA working group to discuss those issues.