NEW YORK -- CBP Executive Assistant Commissioner AnnMarie Highsmith, who leads the Office of Trade, told an audience of apparel professionals that CBP will be providing "some additional resources" on Nov. 16 to comply with the ban on importing goods made with forced labor. She didn't say what those are, but the comment came immediately after she said that the Department of Homeland Security will be continuing to update the entity list of firms connected to China's Xinjiang region.
NEW YORK -- The standard of proof for cotton importers is tremendously high, compliance officials said during a panel at the Nov. 10 Apparel Importers Trade and Transportation Conference.
At least one broker on a CBP webinar on how new Part 111 broker regulations will be implemented continued to be confused about how to determine if the company has a "sufficient" number of licensed customs brokers to supervise employees who file customs entries.
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The use of transaction value is inappropriate when there is insufficient documentation to prove bona fide sales, CBP ruled in HQ ruling H323585, dated Aug. 31.
Major automakers and battery makers disagreed about how granular the EV battery supply chain rules should be, but most agreed that diverging from the battery timeline requirement, which begins in 2023, would allow far more vehicles to qualify for tax credits, thereby accelerating adoption of cleaner cars, trucks and SUVs.
Spirulina Blue Colour is a "binder for foundry molds" for tariff purposes rather than a microorganism or animal product, according to an Aug. 26 CBP headquarters ruling, HQ H324168. The product at issue is Spirulina Blue, a water-soluble, coloring powder that ranges from light greenish blue to dark blue. Made in China, it's sold to food manufacturers for use in the beverage, confectionary, dairy, nutraceutical and pet food industries, according to Calico Food Ingredient. The product is said to “enhance immunity” and have “anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, and anti-cancer effects.” The powder originates with spirulina, a one-cell algae from which the blue color phycocyanin is extracted. The ingredients in the CA2786 Spirulina Blue Colour are composed of 50%-55% phycocyanin from China, 45%-50% trehalose from Japan, and 5% sodium citrate from China. The trehalose is meant to protect the protein and the sodium citrate is meant to adjust the PH and can protect the color.
On passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, electric vehicles manufactured overseas were instantly disqualified from the $7,500 tax credit. In January, even cars manufactured in the U.S. will be eligible only if they are below certain price thresholds, and meet battery component local content thresholds. Those thresholds ramp up in 2024, as do those for the critical minerals in batteries.
CBP in recent days posted draft ACE requirements and a trade information notice on its upcoming requirement for the Chinese postal code. As discussed in a recent ACE call (see 2210270064), the new data element will be required when China is selected as a manufacturer’s country of origin for an entry, or when China is the manufacturer’s country of origin on a new or updated manufacturer ID, CBP said in the trade information notice released Nov. 2.
The International Trade Commission, which is tasked with measuring the economic impact of the USMCA's stringent auto rules of origin, heard from auto industry players in the U.S. and Mexico that satisfying the labor value content audits is next-to-impossible.