Tim Warren

CBP is looking at whether to relax a limit on the number of import entries allowed on manual drawback entries after Jan. 14, said Randy Mitchell, director, Commercial Operations, Revenue and Entry Division, at CBP. Mitchell, who spoke on a drawback webinar Jan. 4, said the agency right now still plans to limit manual claims filed at drawback centers to 25 import data "elements" starting Jan. 15, as described in the ACE Entry Summary Business Rules (here). But, "we're discussing right now if we need to broaden that," he said. "We're really working with our operational office also because it really impacts them if we loosen that policy decision up and include all of the import entries," he said. CBP is "weighing all those concerns" and will update its business rules if it decides a change is necessary, he said. Several webinar participants inquired about the limit.

President-elect Donald Trump plans to nominate Robert Lighthizer, a lawyer with Skadden Arps, as U.S. Trade Representative, Trump's transition team said in a news release (here). Lighthizer, who was a deputy USTR under President Ronald Reagan, "is going to do an outstanding job representing the United States as we fight for good trade deals that put the American worker first,” Trump said. “He has extensive experience striking agreements that protect some of the most important sectors of our economy, and has repeatedly fought in the private sector to prevent bad deals from hurting Americans. He will do an amazing job helping turn around the failed trade policies which have robbed so many Americans of prosperity.”

Apple Watch wristbands are classifiable separately from the Apple Watch itself, CBP said in a Nov. 7 ruling (here). While Apple's lawyers at Cassidy Levy said the band should be classified as part of the Apple Watch, CBP disagreed in its response to the internal advice request. CBP previously classified the Apple Watch and other "smartwatches" in heading 8517 based on the radio transceivers in the watches that impart the essential character of the devices (see 1603070028).

CBP 's interim regulations set too high a standard for domestic producers to show evidence that "reasonably suggests" antidumping or countervailing duty evasion, the Committee on Pipe and Tube Imports said in comments to the agency (here). That's clear from CBP's decision not to act on the allegation submitted by Wheatland Tube (see 1610190029), the committee said. While Wheatland provided public import data, "CBP nevertheless required actual proof of evasion, which contradicts the minimal statutory evidentiary requirement for allegations," it said. That group and several others recently submitted comments (here) as part of CBP's request for comments on its interim regulations implementing the Enforce and Protect Act (EAPA) provisions (see 1608190014).

The Treasury Department’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) will finalize regulatory changes meant "to clarify and streamline import procedures, and support the implementation of the International Trade Data System," it said in a notice (here). The new rule, effective Dec. 31, applies to regulations "governing the importation of distilled spirits, wine, beer and malt beverages, tobacco products, processed tobacco, and cigarette papers and tubes," it said. The agency's final rule includes some changes from its proposal earlier this year (see 1606200029).

CBP is formally investigating Eastern Trading NY over allegations of antidumping duty evasions filed under CBP's new evasion enforcement processes (see 1608190014), the agency said in a "public version" of its notice to the company (here). The company is alleged to have evaded "the antidumping duty order on steel wire garment hangers from the People’s Republic of China," the agency said. "Interim measures apply because CBP determined that there is a reasonable suspicion that the importer entered covered merchandise into the customs territory of the United States through evasion," the agency said.

CBP will make numerous regulatory changes to reflect the Centers of Excellence and Expertise as a component of the agency, it said in an interim final rule (here). Among other things, the interim rule officially shifts responsibilities from the port directors to the CEE directors, CBP said. The new rule also describes the process by which importers will be assigned to Centers and the appeals process for their Center assignments, CBP said. The Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act required CBP to implement the CEE (see 1602170074). The interim rule will be effective Jan. 19.

CBP is unlikely to make new adverse inferences about companies that are unaware of antidumping or countervailing duty evasion allegations and don't respond to information requests, said Carrie Owens, acting CBP director of operations for Enforce and Protect Act and E-Allegations. Owens discussed the EAPA procedures and the use of adverse inference (see 1608190014) during a panel at the East Coast Trade Symposium on Dec. 2. "If a party is not aware it is being requested information pursuant to an EAPA investigation, my personal view is I'm unsure how we would then apply an adverse inference to that," she said. That includes responsiveness to Customs Form 28 that CBP may issue as part of the investigation, Owens said.

An importer of record database required under the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act (see 1602170074) may require additional work before some of what is described in the law can be put in place, said Brenda Smith, executive assistant commissioner with CBP's Office of International Trade. Smith and other officials discussed the issue with reporters during the East Coast Trade Symposium on Dec. 1. "There are a couple of ideas in that authorization bill about using brokers, polishing up a database and the way that we managed importer IDs," some of which is linked to CBP's planned updates to Form 5106 to include additional information about importers, she said. "Our intention is to report back to Congress about our progress in all of those areas and then we may need some additional support, whether it's statutory changes or automation investment, to make what they are looking for a reality. It's early days yet."

New questions about renegotiating NAFTA (see 1611220044) after President-elect Donald Trump takes office are unlikely to affect past and ongoing work toward a North American Single Window, U.S. and Mexican customs officials said during CBP's East Coast Trade Symposium on Dec. 1. "I don't regard any threat on that issue," Ricardo Chapo, administrator general of Mexican customs, said during a meeting with reporters. CBP Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske said that while CBP would weigh in on any possible changes to NAFTA, those discussions and decisions fall outside of CBP's portfolio. "We know there will be changes," Kerlikowske said of CBP under the new administration. "We know things will be looked at differently, but I think any fair evaluation of the last eight years" would demonstrate numerous successes for trade within North America.