Reaching the end of its work with CBP on legislative drafts under the 21st Century Customs Framework, the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee remains at loggerheads with CBP on five remaining enforcement proposals from the agency, including one on penalties that the COAC completely rejected, according to a white paper released June 5.
The U.S. asked for formal dispute settlement consultations with Mexico over its policies on biotech products, but did not commit to moving forward with a panel request if the consultations are not fruitful within 75 days. That's the earliest a panel could be requested under USMCA.
Hybrid hydraulic floor jacks are eligible for exclusion from Section 301 duties under Harmonized Tariff Schedule secondary subheading 9903.88.46, CBP headquarters ruled in a recently released ruling. CBP said that the ruling came in response to an application for further review from Costco regarding the applicability of Section 301 tariffs on its imported Arcan 3-ton Professional Grade Hybrid Service Jacks.
CBP will expand its preliminary hold notification benefit for Trade Compliance program members of the Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (CTPAT) to include withhold release orders (WROs) and forced labor findings, the agency announced in a May 30 letter to CTPAT participants. Preliminary hold notifications were first offered as a benefit for Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) holds back in March (see 2304260045).
Top European and U.S. officials have talked about the need for their EU-U.S. Trade and Technology Council to produce concrete outcomes, and two were achieved in Sweden, at the fourth meeting -- standard conformity on how to charge electric heavy duty vehicles.
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
CBP is now detaining imports of batteries under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, customs lawyer Richard Mojica said in a post on LinkedIn. “CBP’s Detention Notice Addendum -- a document that lists commodity-specific supply chain tracing requirements -- now references batteries,” Mojica said.
The former lead negotiator for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, after a close examination of the joint statements from the latest Indo-Pacific Economic Framework negotiating session, said the "substantial conclusion" of the supply chain pillar is less than meets the eye.
Fourteen types of frozen fruit mixtures, five of which contain vegetable ingredients, should be classified under Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading 0811.90.80 as "other" frozen fruits, dutiable at 14.5%, the Court of International Trade ruled. Judge Stephen Vaden said the merchandise is properly classified under heading 0811 since the term "Fruit ... frozen" describes these goods in whole.
Very little of a hearing on customs modernization focused on the issues CBP and the trade have focused on as they work on a modernization proposal. The agency and traders are talking about new kinds of advance data, expedited release for trusted traders, better harmonization of data requests from partner government agencies and CBP, and data sharing from CBP with rights holders on intellectual property violations, among other changes.