The CBP Trade Symposium scheduled for March 10-11 in Anaheim, California, will, “as of right now,” go on as planned, CBP said in an update. “In light of recent developments regarding the coronavirus called COVID-19, CBP has received some questions and concerns about the status” of the symposium, it said. “CBP will closely monitor this fluid situation and recommendations made by the CDC over the coming days and make a final determination by the end of the day on Wednesday, March 4 if any changes need to be made.”
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 added on Feb. 14 the ability in ACE for importers to file entries with recently excluded goods in the third tranche of Section 301 tariffs, it said in a CSMS message. The official Office of the U.S. Trade Representative notice for the exclusions was published on Feb. 5 (see 2001020035). The exclusions are in subheading 9903.88.38. The exclusions are available for any product that meets the description in the Annex to USTR’s notice, regardless of whether the importer filed an exclusion request. The product exclusions apply retroactively to Sept. 24, 2018, and will expire after Aug. 7, 2020. The CSMS message also includes a summary of Section 301 duties and that shows information on each tranche of tariffs and granted product exclusions.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative would need to provide specific guidance to CBP in order to change treatment of goods from foreign-trade zones that were subject to the recently decreased Section 301 tariffs, CBP said in response to a recent letter from the National Association of Foreign-Trade Zones (see 2002180046). CBP said it enforces the Section 301 duties issued by the USTR “based on CBP laws and regulations, including 19 CFR 146.65(a)(1), unless USTR directs CBP to take different actions pursuant to Section 301.” NAFTZ President Erik Autor said the association is reviewing its next steps.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Feb. 18-21 in case they were missed.
Fees and charges incurred by vendors after an international shipment of merchandise may not be excluded from the transaction value, CBP said in a recently released ruling dated Feb. 4. Furniture importer Bluestem Brands requested a CBP ruling on whether various fees that weren't included in the price actually paid or payable can be excluded from the transaction value as “costs incident to the international shipment of the merchandise.” CBP allows for some incidental shipment costs to be excluded from the transaction value.
Tracking devices that use the Global Positioning System should be classified differently from smartwatches and other Bluetooth-connected devices that rely on a smartphone connection, CBP said in two recently released rulings. The Sept. 30 rulings both involve Globalstar products that use GPS signals and provide location updates. Neville Petersen lawyer Michael Tomenga requested the rulings for Globalstar, and said the trackers should be classified based on the wireless transceivers, similar to fitness tracking devices (see 1603070028).
The Office of the U.S Trade Representative is set to publish a notice Feb. 20 listing some new product exclusions from Section 301 tariffs on the third list of products from China (see 2002190005). The product exclusions apply retroactively to Sept. 24, 2018, the date the tariffs on the third list took effect, and will remain in effect until Aug. 7, 2020.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Feb. 10-14 in case they were missed.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will make some relatively minor changes to 25% tariffs as part of the Airbus dispute, the agency said in a news release on Feb. 14 (see 2002140057). USTR will increase tariffs from 10% to 15% on aircraft from the European Union, but made only two other changes to broader 25% tariffs. Prune juice will be removed from the list, and butcher's knives from England and Germany will be added, but the other products on the list will stay the same (see 2002140057).
CBP added on Jan. 14 the ability in ACE for importers to file entries with recently excluded goods in the third tranche of Section 301 tariffs, it said in a CSMS message. Filers of imported products that were granted an exclusion (see 2001020035) should report the regular Chapters 4, 40, 42, 44, 54, 55, 56, 58, 73, 76, 79, 82, 84, 85, 87, 90 and 94 Harmonized Tariff Schedule number, as well as subheading 9903.88.37, CBP said in the message. “Importers shall not submit the corresponding Chapter 99 HTS number for the Section 301 duties when” subheading 9903.88.37 is submitted, CBP said.