Tim Warren

CBP added the ability in ACE for importers to file entries with the first group of excluded goods from the third tranche of Section 301 tariffs on Aug. 8, it said in a CSMS message. Filers of imported products that were granted an exclusion (see 1908050010) should report the regular Chapters 39, 54, 56, 73, 87 and 89 Harmonized Tariff Schedule number, as well as subheading 9903.88.13, for products subject to Section 301 duties on products from China but that have been granted an exclusion by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. “Importers shall not submit the corresponding Chapter 99 HTS number for the Section 301 duties when HTS 9903.88.13 is submitted,” CBP said.

A "Denied Commodity List" that includes "products and/or sources subject to known" intellectual property rights violations is one possible way to slow trade in counterfeit goods, the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee said in comments dated Aug. 1 and posted Aug. 6 in docket DOC-2019-0003. Such a list might include "products and supply chains adjudicated as violating counterfeiting or piracy laws and/or regulations on at least more than one occasion," the COAC said. The comments are in response to President Donald Trump’s April 3 memorandum that directed the Commerce Department to collaborate with other federal agencies on a report due Oct. 30 with recommendations about how to reduce the bad behavior (see 1907080030).

CBP correctly applied two Section 301 tariff rates to imported toolsets from China, CBP said in a July 30 ruling. Stanley Black & Decker, through its lawyer at Follick & Bessich, requested reconsideration of an April ruling that found that a tool set imported by the Apex Tool Group could be subject to multiple tariffs (see 1904240014). The same issue seems to be under review at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative after a lawmaker mentioned potential broader impact if the fourth tranche of tariffs takes effect and asked whether the USTR considered CBP's interpretation to be correct (see 1907310052).

CBP added the ability in ACE for importers to file entries with the first group of excluded goods from the second tranche of Section 301 tariffs on Aug. 1, it said in a CSMS message. Filers of imported products that were granted an exclusion (see 1907290023) should report the regular Chapters 39, 84, 85, 86, 87 and 90 Harmonized Tariff Schedule number, as well as subheading 9903.88.12, for products subject to Section 301 duties on products from China but that have been granted an exclusion by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. “Importers shall not submit the corresponding Chapter 99 HTS number for the Section 301 duties when HTS 9903.88.12 is submitted,” CBP said.

CHICAGO -- The discussion around including forced labor compliance within Trusted Trader requirements is ongoing after the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee issued recommendations on the subject, said Manuel Garza, director of the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism. "Some of them we agreed with, some of them we didn't agree with," he said. "There's probably going to be a couple of new recommendations that COAC is going to provide back to CBP for the next COAC meeting." Garza spoke July 24 at the CBP Trade Symposium.

CHICAGO -- CBP would like additional authority under the Enforce and Protect Act to go after duty evasion efforts that don't involve antidumping or countervailing duty orders, CBP Executive Assistant Commissioner for International Trade Brenda Smith said on July 23. Smith and EAC Todd Owen with the Office of Field Operations discussed enforcement efforts during a meeting with reporters at the CBP Trade Symposium. "Remedy evasion is the same as EAPA," which "is the same as antidumping evasion, is the same as misclassification, undervaluation and transshipment," Smith said.

The Court of International Trade was mistaken in its decision on whether the CIT could consider a legal challenge before a protest was actually denied, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said in a July 22 ruling. The CAFC reversed and remanded the CIT's decision to allow the protest lawsuit to go forward under the residual jurisdiction in 28 USC 1581(i) (see 1711090037). "Importers such as Hymer should not be permitted to rest on artful or creative pleadings to expand the jurisdictional scope of § 1581(i), which Congress limited as a statutory basis for the CIT’s jurisdiction over protests," CAFC said.

CBP will begin testing advance data collections for low-value entries that may be eligible for Section 321 exemptions, the agency said in a notice. "Participants will electronically transmit certain data elements pertaining to these shipments to CBP in advance of arrival," CBP said. "CBP is conducting this test to determine the feasibility of requiring advance data from different types of parties and requiring additional data that is generally not required under current regulations in order to effectively identify and target high-risk shipments in the ecommerce environment."

The country of origin for watches is largely based upon where the watch "movement" is produced, but the origin of watch bands and cases is determined by whether the assembly is completed in the same country where the movement was made, CBP said in a June 25 ruling. Seiko Watch of America, through Ernst & Young, asked CBP to rule on how the company should declare country of origin in four scenarios and whether Section 301 duties might apply. CBP found that only in one of the scenarios would the proposed fourth list of Section 301 tariffs not apply.

CBP correctly classified the WeeRide Carrier, which allows kids to ride on adult bikes in a seat between the adult seat and the handlebars, as a bike accessory, the Court of International Trade said in a July 9 ruling. The importer, Kent International, argued that the product is properly classified as “Seats (other than those of heading 9402), whether or not convertible into beds, and parts thereof: … Other seats: Of rubber or plastics: … Other” under HTSUS subheading 9401.80.40, which is duty free.