Tim Warren

The U.S. and Mexico agreed to a major step forward in talks to renew the trade relationship between the countries in NAFTA, the White House announced on Aug. 27. Canada remains on the outside of the deal but that country will begin similar discussions with the U.S. as soon as Aug. 27, a senior administration official said during a call with reporters. The U.S. and Mexico will use an "alternative" sunset provision to allow for more frequent reviews of the deal, another official on the call said.

The House could pass the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill in the first week or so following a return from recess after Labor Day "if they think that they can get it passed and get it through the president to sign," said Jon Kent, a lobbyist for the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America with Kent & O'Connor. One potential issue could be inconsistency concerns within the administration over tariff cuts on many goods that come from China as other tariffs are being added under Section 301 and other trade remedies, Kent said.

The National Association of Foreign-Trade Zones recently wrote to Foreign-Trade Zones Board Executive Secretary Andrew McGilvray as part of the group's effort to address the "unintended and injurious impact" of section 201 and 301 tariffs on manufacturers in U.S. FTZs. NAFTZ is trying to get the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to resolve issues involving the USTR's trade remedy language that results in unfair treatment of goods manufactured within FTZs (see 1808220034). "We respectfully request that the Foreign-Trade Zones Board communicate immediately with USTR to help resolve this increasingly-damaging situation for American FTZ manufacturers," he said.

Drawback seems to be an area of growing interest for companies worried about the new tariffs, said Doug Zuvich, a partner in KPMG's Trade and Customs Services group, during an Aug. 20 webinar hosted by KPMG. "What's really important about this, whether you manufacture or you're just distributing, exporting the products, you can get your refunds back even if it's not the same products that you export. It could be domestic products," he said. "So some companies are using this strategically, and where they have multiple decentralized businesses, they're actually looking at which of the businesses are exporting similar-type products and which are importing, and they're actually strategically matching them up. Other companies that we know of are looking at acquisitions and ways to take advantage of this because it's a significant way to get ahead of these duties."

CBP denied a request from the Distilled Spirits Council for more time to comment on the agency's proposed rules for drawback under the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act (see 1808020049). The DSC requested an additional 15 days to comment beyond the current deadline of Sept. 17. "CBP wants to receive your input on the proposed regulations," said Alice Kipel, executive director of CBP's Office of Trade Regulations and Rulings, in the denial. "Unfortunately, CBP is unable to grant your request for additional time, as there is a need to finalize a rule prior to the statutory deadline of February 23, 2019," she said.

CBP needs to give "immediate attention" to multiple unanswered questions related to bonding in the Air Cargo Advance Screening rules, the International Trade Surety Association said in comments filed in response to the ACAS interim rule that took effect in June (see 1806110043). "The Interim rule is silent on the formula to be used to set bond amounts, whether there is a minimum bond amount or whether Single Transaction bonds may be used to secure ACAS obligations, whether multiple penalties may be claimed against the same principal and/or multiple principals on the same transaction," the ITSA said. "We recommend that these issues be addressed immediately with the surety industry and with other stakeholders."

ATLANTA -- The new agricultural security criteria within the updated Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (CTPAT) Minimum Security Criteria "is probably the most controversial," said Liz Schmelzinger, CTPAT director at CBP, during a panel discussion at the CBP 2018 Trade Symposium on Aug. 15. "I was told 'slugs are not terrorists,'" she said. Having cargo stopped due to agricultural issues is very expensive and time-consuming, she said. CBP recently began circulating proposed MSC updates to CTPAT members through the CTPAT portal (see 1807300011).

Imported artichoke antipasto and green olive tapenade meet the classification requirements of "sauces," the Court of International Trade said in an Aug. 16 decision that went against CBP. The suit involved supermarket brands of the antipasto and tapenade imported by Mondiv. The company challenged a 2015 CBP ruling that said the products don't meet the requirements for a sauce (see 1511300011).

ATLANTA -- CBP auditors plan to work with a Center of Excellence and Expertise to provide more information "very soon" to industry on keeping in compliance with recent safeguard tariffs, Thomas Jesukiewicz, Long Beach field director in CBP's Regulatory Audit office. "My office and another office will be addressing one of the safeguards with a CEE, going out and start providing informed compliance and getting you ready," he said. Jesukiewicz and other CBP auditors spoke during a panel discussion at the CBP 2018 Trade Symposium on Aug. 15.

ATLANTA -- China's inaction in the face of accusations of unfair trade practices continues to drive the dispute between it and the U.S., Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Jeffrey Gerrish said while speaking at the CBP 2018 Trade Symposium on Aug. 15. "I recognize that many of you may have concerns about the tariffs being imposed. However, I can assure you these actions were not taken lightly," he said. The tariffs follow many years of failed discussions with the Chinese, including under the current administration, "in which the Chinese had repeatedly made commitments to correct their harmful, unfair and distortive actions and then refused to honor those commitments," he said.