The $3.3 million offer in compromise that settled civil liability for customs violations with CBP came about due to the work of an agency import specialist, a CBP spokesperson said. Satisloh, which imports machinery that is used in making optical lenses, made the offer in compromise (see 1911200042) after CBP said it “provided false descriptions, tariff classification numbers, and/or duty rates to CBP for the entries of certain machinery and repair parts.”
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 2019 regulatory agenda for CBP. The only new trade-related rulemaking included is a proposed requirement for the U.S. Postal Service to transmit advance electronic information to CBP for international mail shipments. That rule is a result of the STOP Act, or Synthetics Trafficking and Overdose Prevention Act, signed by President Donald Trump in October 2018 (see 1810240052). CBP is targeting December to issue an interim final rule, it said.
CBP added on Nov. 13 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 1911080003) should report the regular Chapters 39, 42, 44, 48, 50, 54, 60, 73, 82, 83, 84, 85, 87, 90 and 94 Harmonized Tariff Schedule number, as well as subheading 9903.88.34, CBP said in the message. “Importers shall not submit the corresponding Chapter 99 HTS number for the Section 301 duties when” subheading 9903.88.34 is submitted, CBP said.
The Treasury Department published its fall 2019 regulatory agenda for CBP. The agenda includes a new rulemaking that would amend CBP's regulations to get rid of the “onerous and inefficient paper-based bond application and approval processes," it said. The agency will try to issue a proposed rulemaking rule by March next year, it said. "Moving forward, the proposed amendments would implement the successful National Customs Automation Program (NCAP) test for electronic bonds ('eBonds')," it said. "The proposed amendments would require all bonds to be filed by the sureties using an electronic data interchange (EDI) or e-mail."
CBP is proposing to limit the reach of Court of International Trade and U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit rulings involving locking pliers, it said in the Nov. 20 issue of the Customs Bulletin released on Nov. 19. CBP's proposal stems from a CAFC ruling this year (see 1904100037) and a pair of 2017 CIT rulings (see 1704130035 and 1709210048) that involved Irwin locking pliers. “CBP believes that the definition applied by the court unduly limits the scope of the term wrench and precludes articles that function as wrenches and are commonly and commercially known as wrenches from classification as wrenches," it said.
CBP should abandon its proposed ruling modification what would change the classification consideration of footwear with embroidered uppers, the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America told the agency. CBP in its Oct. 16 bulletin proposed to modify rulings to say that embroidery doesn't preclude footwear from being classified as athletic footwear (see 1910210057). Comments on the proposal were due Nov. 15.
Mattress bases largely sourced from China but assembled in Vietnam undergo a substantial transformation and are not subject to the Section 301 tariffs on goods from China, CBP said in an Oct. 30 ruling. The ruling, NY N306524, came in response to a request from lawyer George Tuttle on behalf of Ergomotion. The company asked CBP to confirm that the mattress bases are “country of origin Vietnam, and not subject to China Section 301 duties," CBP said.
CBP added on Nov. 7 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 1910240004) should report the regular Chapters 29, 32, 37, 39, 40, 48, 51, 54, 56, 58, 59, 60, 68, 70, 73, 74, 75, 76, 82, 83, 84, 85, 87, 90 and 94 Harmonized Tariff Schedule number, as well as subheading 9903.88.33, CBP said in the message. “Importers shall not submit the corresponding Chapter 99 HTS number for the Section 301 duties when" subheading 9903.88.33 is submitted, CBP said.
Transmute Industries will develop a “proof-of-concept application” for CBP meant to help track imports of raw materials under a $198,642 award from the federal government, the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) said in a Nov. 8 news release. S&T is looking at the possibility of using blockchain to “issue credentials digitally to enhance security, ensure interoperability and prevent forgery and counterfeiting,” it said. The award is the latest of several efforts by the government examining a role for blockchain within customs, including a collaboration with University of Houston and Texas A&M University (see 1910160023).
The U.S Trade Representative issued some new product exclusions from Section 301 tariffs on the third list of products from China, granting exemptions for two 10-digit tariff subheadings, according to a pre-publication copy of a notice posted to the agency’s website Nov. 7. 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. New subheading 9903.88.34 will be used for these products.