Tim Warren

The Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) approved a broad set of recommendations for updating the foreign-trade zone regulations in 19 CFR 146 during its Oct. 3 meeting. The recommendations, which came through the Trade Modernization Subcommittee, are meant to address several issues, including confusion over the application of trade remedies to goods in FTZs and Section 321 entries for small value items. "Updating our FTZ practices and regulations is overdue," said Treasury Department Deputy Assistant Secretary Timothy Skud.

CBP updated a table with information on whether the Merchandise Processing Fee is paid, or exempt from payment, for goods entered under free trade agreements or trade preference programs. "The table provides guidance and links with respect to MPF treatment for tariff preference level (TPL) goods, over-quota tariff rate quota (TRQ) goods, and originating unconditionally free goods," CBP said in a CSMS message.

Cases for iPads that allow for wireless charging through a separate charging base are not classifiable as “similar containers” under heading 4202, CBP said in a June 28 ruling. The ruling, HQ H287462, was in response to a request for further review of a protest filed by Dana Innovation, the parent company of Sonance. CBP liquidated such iPad cases in 4202.99.9000 with a 20 percent duty rate.

The Department of Homeland Security would like the World Customs Organization to continue to use the SAFE Framework of Standards for e-commerce rather than create a set of entirely new standards for that purpose, said Christa Brzozowski, deputy assistant secretary for trade and transport at the Department of Homeland Security. Brzozowski spoke on a panel about the WCO at the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America Government Affairs Conference Sept. 24 in Washington. "The concern from my perspective, from DHS' perspective and potentially from the U.S. government perspective -- that paper is still circulating, but we hope to present yet again at the WCO in early October -- is that we question whether there is value in creating sort of two distinct rules of the road, two distinct sets of tools for 'traditional flows' and 'e-commerce flows,'" she said.

House Natural Resources Committee ranking member Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., asked in a Sept. 19 letter that the Government Accountability Office review CBP's enforcement of a prohibition on imports made with forced labor. Grijalva specifically seeks that the GAO look at "illicit labor practices related to the seafood supply chain." Since the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act closed a forced labor loophole in 2016, "CBP's level of enforcement of Section 307 does not match the prevalence of forced labor in global supply chains," Grijalva said. The GAO letter is similar to another letter organized by Grijalva to be sent to the secretaries of the departments of Commerce, State and Homeland Security (see 1809100013).

Multiple conservative-aligned groups called for CBP to change course on the agency's proposed plans to eliminate duty drawback for excise taxes. Those groups, including Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform and the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, filed comments on the proposed changes for drawback under the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act (see 1808020049). The question of ending drawback for excise taxes on domestically produced goods that are exported free of excise taxes, a practice used by the wine industry for years to the envy of other industries paying excise taxes (see 1708090043), was the biggest area of contention among comments filed in the docket.

President Donald Trump's authority to impose Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum is backed by constitutional provisions giving the president independent oversight of national security and foreign affairs, the Justice Department said in a Sept. 14 filing with the Court of International Trade. The filing was in response to a legal challenge from the American Institute for International Steel and two companies (see 1807200023) seeking a summary judgment to stop the tariffs. The Supreme Court also has previously ruled on the issue, DOJ said.

The Section 232 quotas on steel and aluminum from certain countries and exclusions from the Section 232 tariffs are among the toughest procedural challenges CBP is facing in dealing with those trade remedies, CBP officials from the Base Metals Center of Excellence and Expertise recently told the American Institute for International Steel. AIIS said in its newsletter that the group's customs committee held a conference call on Sept. 6 with Center Director Africa Bell and other officials. CBP is in the process of making fixes to aid in the remedying of those problems, it said.

Garments assembled with thread manufactured in Honduras with fibers from countries outside the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement can still be eligible for CAFTA-DR benefits, CBP said in a recent ruling. The July 10 ruling, HQ H296285, was in response to a request from Coats Honduras about the eligibility of such clothes. The company uses fibers from the CAFTA-DR region but was considering making a change in sourcing, it said.

CBP announced the calendar year 2018 tariff rate quota for tuna in airtight containers. It said 13,951,961 kilograms of tuna in airtight containers may be entered and withdrawn from warehouse for consumption during 2018, at the rate of 6% ad valorem under Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading 1604.14.22. Any such tuna that is entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption during the current calendar year in excess of this quota will be dutiable at the rate of 12.5% ad valorem under HTS subheading 1604.14.30.