Customs Duty

Participation within the European Union's Authorized Economic Operator program could be one way to reduce barriers for trade between Ireland and the United Kingdom following Brexit, KPMG said on its website. "As the Brexit process continues, Irish businesses need to prepare for the changes in trading into and out of the UK once the UK finally leaves the EU," said Glenn Reynolds, a partner with KPMG in Ireland. "If the UK leaves the EU Single Market and Customs Union with no other arrangements in place, all trade between Ireland and the UK will require full customs clearance and tariffs would be imposed on Irish exports to the UK and imports from the UK into Ireland."

The European Union's new tariffs on goods from the U.S. (see 1806200016) took effect on June 22 and won't apply to goods exported from the U.S. before that date, the United Kingdom said in a notice. The UK considers "the point of export to be the completion of export formalities followed by the leaving of the territorial waters of the US," it said. "It is that point that customs will take into account when considering whether or not to apply the new duties. A proof such as the bill of lading, where the shipping date may be compared to the date of entry into force of the rebalancing measures must be made available to the customs authorities on request. Goods that were exported from the US prior to 22 June 2018 are exempt from these new duties. This includes goods that were on the high seas." The tariffs also won't apply to products "for which an import licence with an exemption from or a reduction of duty has been issued prior to the date of entry into force," the EU said in its notice.

A coalition of U.S. manufacturers is seeking the imposition of antidumping and countervailing duties on steel racks from China, the group said in a petition filed June 19 with the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission. Commerce will now decide whether to begin AD/CVD investigations that could eventually result in the assessment of AD/CV duties. The petition was filed by the Coalition for Fair Rack Imports, which counts nine companies as members.

On the same day that European tariffs went into effect in retaliation for U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs, President Donald Trump tweeted that if the European Union doesn't drop those tariffs and other trade barriers soon, "we will be placing a 20% Tariff on all of their cars coming into the U.S. Build them here!" The Commerce Department is conducting an investigation into whether auto and auto parts exports are a threat to national security. While speaking to reporters at a convention on June 21, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the investigation should be complete in late July or in August.

The Senate Appropriations Bill for the Department of Homeland Security for fiscal year 2019 would spend $14.26 billion on CBP, almost $239 million more than the current spending. The committee report said that it's sending $49 million for 375 additional CBP officers, "in recognition of wait times at certain ports of entry as well as the volume of illicit drugs passing through POEs." With regard to drugs smuggled through ports of entry, the report says the Senate intends to provide $30 million in support of enforcement at international mail facilities and express consignment carrier locations "by enhancing scientific and laboratory staffing, increasing law enforcement staffing and canines, improving facilities, deploying technology to locate targeted packages, enhancing detection and testing equipment, and improving interoperability with FDA detection equipment." The bill provides $174 million for non-intrusive inspection equipment, of which the $30 million for opioids is a subset.

Among the companies allowed exclusions to the Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum are the Connecticut company that makes Schick razors, which will be allowed to import steel blades from Japan, and U.S. Leakless, an Alabama company that imports Japanese rubber-coated gaskets used in auto transmissions. The Commerce Department accepted 42 steel product exclusion requests from seven companies, it announced on June 20.

In recent editions of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:

The Commerce Department issued Federal Register notices on its recently initiated antidumping duty investigations on steel propane cylinders from China, Taiwan and Thailand (A-570-086, A-583-864, A-549-839), and countervailing duty investigation on steel propane cylinders from China (C-570-087).

An importer of solar cells can’t challenge CBP’s decision to require antidumping and countervailing duty cash deposits without a scope ruling in hand, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said June 14. Reversing an October 2016 decision from the Court of International Trade (see 1610200024), CAFC held the trade court did not have jurisdiction to hear a challenge of CBP’s allegedly illegitimate decision to require cash deposits because Commerce had not yet issued a scope ruling on whether Sunpreme’s hybrid solar cells were included under the scope of AD/CVD orders on solar cells from China.

Acting Associate Attorney General Jesse Panuccio pointed to the whistleblower provisions in the False Claims Act as an important method for enforcing customs laws. The Justice Department is using the FCA "to prevent companies from flouting our customs laws," he said in a June 14 speech at an American Bar Association event on qui tam enforcement. "Over the last five years, the Department has recovered more than $100 million in settlements involving the evasion or underpayment of import duties for a wide variety of merchandise." Panuccio said DOJ will also use the FCA "against any entities involved in the opioid distribution chain who engage in the abuse and illegal diversion of opioids -- from pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors, to pharmacies, to pain management clinics and physicians."