U.S. Customs and Border Protection released its April 18 Customs Bulletin. While the Bulletin does not contain any ruling articles, it does list recent information collection notices and recent Court of International Trade decisions.
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.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection will update its list of airports approved to accept aircraft traveling to or from Cuba, according to a notice to be published in the Federal Register April 20, 2012. Part 122, subpart O, of the CBP regulations sets forth special procedures that apply to all aircraft (except public aircraft) entering or departing the U.S. to or from Cuba. On January 28, 2011, CBP published a final rule in the Federal Register (76 FR 5058) that amended the CBP regulations to establish such procedures and airport eligibility criteria.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) should include a footwear provision that quickly eliminates footwear duties and doesn't include a complex rule-of-origin, said a group of 27 members of Congress in a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk. According to the lawmakers, footwear tariffs are among the highest in the U.S. even though less than 1 percent of the footwear sold in the U.S. is produced in the U.S.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection issued the following releases on commercial trade and related issues:
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y) said April 17, 2012, to expect a full reauthoriztion of the U.S. Export-Import Bank sooner rather than later, as bipartisan negotiations are progressing on legislation to increase the bank's lending limit and extend the bank's charter. The current authorization for the bank, which was extended from its original Sept. 30, 2011 expiration, ends May 31, 2012. Schumer said House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) has appeared more eager to negotiate a solution with Democrats.
The Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation Security, chaired by Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL) scheduled a hearing on “Building Secure Partnerships in Travel, Commerce, and Trade with the Asia-Pacific Region” April 18, 2012, at 2 P.M. Scheduled witnesses are: John Halinski, Assistant Administrator, Office of Global Strategies, Transportation Security Administration, U.S. Department of Homeland Security; Mark Koumans, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of International Affairs, Office of Policy, U.S. Department of Homeland Security; Hon. Hans G. Klemm, U.S. Senior Official for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, U.S. Department of State; Gary Wade, Vice President Security, Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Inc., on behalf of the Cargo Airline Association (CAA); Dorothy Reimold, Assistant Director, Security and Travel Facilitation, International Air Transport Association (IATA); Roger Dow, CEO, U.S. Travel Association; Michael Mullen, Executive Director, Express Association of America
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is requesting to extend the comments deadline to May 21, 2012, on an existing information collection on Country of Origin Marking Requirements for Containers or Holders. CBP proposes to extend the expiration date of this information collection with no change to the burden hours or to the information collected. The notice is scheduled to run in the Federal Register April 19, 2012. This information collection was previously published in the Federal Register (77 FR 6817) on February 9, 2012, allowing for a 60-day comment period. This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments.
A U.S. Senate Appropriations Commerce, Justice and Related Agencies Subcommittee approved April 17, 2012, a 2013 appropriations bill to give the International Trade Administration $496 million, $31 million more than the fiscal year 2012, to help U.S. farmers, manufacturers, and service providers sell their products overseas, the subcommittee said. The FY13 Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations Bill also provides funding for the new Interagency Trade Enforcement Center (ITEC) to aggressively tackle unfair trade practices hurting American businesses. The bill would give International Trade Commission $82.8 million for 2013, a $2.8 million increase. The bill also provides $53 million for the office of the U.S. Trade Representatives, up $1.8 million from the 2012 level. The legislation totals $51.862 billion in proposed discretionary budget authority, a reduction of $1 billion below the fiscal year 2012 enacted level, the subcommittee said.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has used its allotment of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 for the authorized purposes, a Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General (OIG) report found. The report also concluded that CBP, the General Services Administration, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers established adequate oversight and monitoring processes and procedures over the construction and alteration projects, said the OIG.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection issued its weekly tariff rate quota and tariff preference level commodity report as of April 16.