Tim Warren

CBP is aiming to release rules for entry filings of goods valued under the $800 de minimis threshold "before the end of the calendar year," said Brenda Smith, executive assistant commissioner for the CBP Office of Trade, on Sept. 12 during the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America conference in Washington. CBP knows "it's a big deal" to customs brokers "whether we require the classification on all small packages," she said. It's a "thorny issue," but "I think we are close to having kind of the final conversations," so "look forward to that in the next couple months."

The work is ongoing toward making some significant updates to the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism program, but there's been serious progress in recent months, said Elizabeth Schmelzinger, C-TPAT director at CBP, during a Sept. 6 interview. Between an update to Minimum Security Criteria and a new best practice framework, the program is undergoing a combination of fine-tuning and major updates that are meant to show measurable security improvements while keeping it attractive to the trade for cargo processing benefits, she said. Schmelzinger said implementation of a small number of new criteria requirements could come at some point during fiscal year 2018, which ends Sept. 30, 2018.

Glass votive-candle holders that are imported empty, but later filled with a wick and candle wax in the U.S., are classifiable as drinking glasses, CBP said in an April 24 ruling. The ruling, HQ H275806, was in response to an internal advice request from the Industrial and Manufacturing Materials Center of Excellence and Expertise. Law firm Stein Shostak, on behalf of CGT General Merchandise, asked the CEE to seek internal advice, the agency said.

CBP properly rejected a drawback claim due to an incomplete filing despite assurances from the filer that the requisite paperwork was actually included, the agency said in a June 12 ruling, HQ H275551. Argents Express Group protested CBP's initial rejection of the drawback claim in 2014 due to the lack of a "coding sheet" that is required for paper drawback claims. Despite subsequent efforts to provide the necessary items, CBP said Argents didn't meet the requirements for a drawback claim filing.

Multiple recommendations submitted by the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) for Section 321 entries proved to be contentious, eliciting disagreement among members during the Aug. 23 COAC meeting in San Diego. The presentation of the recommendations at the meeting included the unusual step of votes and discussions on each individual recommendation. While some of the recommendations faced opposition, all were ultimately approved by the COAC. "There's a lot of uncertainty in this area because it's a new and different model that was not necessarily envisioned or anticipated by the market, by those that are participating in it or by our government partners," said Cindy Allen, the co-chair of the Trade Modernization Subcommittee.

CBP posted draft recommendations from the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) e-commerce working group on Section 321 entries ahead of the COAC meeting on Aug. 23 in San Diego. The recommendations "are intended to improve the import process from a facilitation and enforcement perspective for section 321-eligible shipments across all modes of transportation," the working group said. CBP issued an interim final rule on the de minimis level last year and raised a number of questions on the role of other agencies' requirements for such shipments (see 1608250029).

CBP's Trade Remedy and Law Enforcement Directorate is investigating several new cases of alleged antidumping duty evasion under the Enforce and Protect Act (EAPA) evasion enforcement process (see 1608190014), CBP said in an Aug. 17 news release. The agency announced new investigations into possible evasion of AD duty orders on wooden bedroom furniture (WBF) and steel wire hangers. CBP also announced an investigation into alleged evasion of a diamond sawblades AD order. The Diamond Sawblades Manufacturers' Coalition, which filed the allegation, previously announced the investigation (see 1706280035).

CBP found Eastern Trading NY "engaged in evasion" of antidumping duties on steel wire garment hangers from China, the agency said its Aug. 14 final determination. The decision marks the first publicly released final determination resulting from an investigation under CBP's Enforce and Protect Act (EAPA) evasion enforcement processes (see 1608190014). CBP announced late last year that it was investigating Eastern Trading NY following allegations submitted by M&B Metal, imposing cash deposit requirements after finding a "reasonable suspicion" of evasion (see 1612190004).

Consolidated online orders of goods that fall under the de minimis value threshold and are sent directly to the consumer are eligible for Section 321 exemptions, CBP said in a July 26 ruling. Unlike situations in which commercial shipments of low-value products are sent to a retailer to be put up for sale (see 1707310053), CBP allows for duty-free entry of grouped orders addressed to the end customer, CBP said. The ruling request involved e-commerce orders of merchandise through Zara.com and Fashion Retail, a Spanish company that handles shipments of the orders, CBP said.

Battery powered candles that include light emitting diodes (LEDs) are properly classified under heading 9405 as lamps and lighting fittings, the Court of International Trade said in a Aug. 2 ruling. The decision was the result of a Gerson Company challenge to CBP's classification of the candles after liquidation in heading 9405 during 2009 and 2010. The company contended that the merchandise is better classified in heading 8541 as "Diodes, transistors and similar semiconductor devices; ... light-emitting diodes" or 8543 as "Electrical machines and apparatus, having individual functions, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter."