CBP issued a memorandum announcing that the 12-month valued-added tariff preference level for certain apparel eligible to receive duty-free treatment under Haiti HOPE opened December 20, 2012 for the December 20, 2012 - December 19, 2013 period. The TPL limit is 306,742,329 SME. (QBT-12-541, dated 12/28/12)
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.
CBP posted a Dec. 31 version of its CF 1400 (Record of Vessel in Foreign Trade Entrances) electronic query report of the Vessel Management System (VMS), in accordance with 19 CFR 4.95, organized by entrances. CBP also posted a version of its CF 1401 (Record of Vessel in Foreign Trade Clearances) electronic query report of the VMS, in accordance with 19 CFR 4.95, organized by clearances.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) introduced long-awaited Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (MTB) legislation Jan. 1. The bill, named the U.S. Job Creation and Manufacturing Competitiveness Act of 2013 (HR-6727), won't be voted on this Congress and will be need to be reintroduced in the 113th Congress, said a House Ways and Means spokeswoman. A large number of duty suspensions or reductions expired Dec. 31, though it's expected that coming legislation would retroactively address the expired suspensions, which is how Congress handled a similar expiration in 2010.
CBP issued a memorandum on the 2013 duty-free U.S.-Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) tariff preference level for certain non-originating Nicaragua apparel of cotton or man-made fiber (MMF), or subject to cotton or MMF restraints, as provided for in HTS Chapter 99, Subchapter XV, U.S. Note 15.
CBP issued a memorandum on the 2013 tariff rate quotas for agricultural products described in HTS Chapter 99, Subchapter XI, U.S. Notes 4 through 17 (excluding Notes 12 and 13), on the U.S.-Chile Free Trade Agreement (UCFTA, or CFTA).
CBP's initiatives in addressing trade procedures during the eight-day work stoppage at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach helped reduce related delays, said the American Apparel and Footwear Association in a letter to CBP Deputy Commissioner David Aguilar. Due to CBP's "rapid response when the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach work stoppage came to an end, the vessel backlog from the strike was able to be cleared quickly and efficiently, and ill effects on the supply chain were capped before they could get worse, said the AAFA. "With the December 29 contract expiration looming in our East and Gulf Coast ports, [CBP] has taken great steps in distributing guidance for diverted or anchored vessels in the case of a strike."
Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated Dec. 20. The corresponding downloadable rulings are now available.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit declined to hold an en banc review of the court's previous decision against Ancient Coin Collectors Guild (ACCG), which sued CBP over import restrictions. That court in October sided with the Justice Department in a suit filed by the ACCG over the implementation of import restrictions on cultural property from China and Cyprus. The ACCG filed the original suit in the U.S. District Court of Maryland after CBP stopped the 2009 import of coins over violations of the Cultural Property Implementation Act (CPIA). The district court said neither the State Department nor CBP had exceeded their authority.
CBP revoked a ruling that imposed duties for repairs to a cargo ship following a Nov. 9 Court of Appeals of the Federal Circuit (CAFC) decision against CBP. The original ruling, HQ H015615, found repairs made to the Horizon Crusader, a cargo ship, to be dutiable. The CAFC ruled against CBP, agreeing with the CIT that the replacement of new anti-fouling coatings on a vessel's underwater hull that was performed overseas is not a dutiable foreign repair.
CBP posted a Dec. 26 version of its CF 1400 (Record of Vessel in Foreign Trade Entrances) electronic query report of the Vessel Management System (VMS), in accordance with 19 CFR 4.95, organized by entrances. CBP also posted a version of its CF 1401 (Record of Vessel in Foreign Trade Clearances) electronic query report of the VMS, in accordance with 19 CFR 4.95, organized by clearances.