Shipmonk, an e-commerce fulfillment and inventory management provider, acquired El Mar Mexico and its fulfillment center based in Tecate, Mexico, Shipmonk said Oct. 21. The acquisition will allow for customers to "legally bypass taxing on the majority of U.S. shipments, eliminating tariffs and import duties" due to the Section 321 exemption allowed on low-value goods, it said. "Goods are legally imported into a free trade zone in Mexico under special license, and then shipped directly to the U.S. consumer within ShipMonk's comprehensive shipping zone coverage area, without paying duties and tariff fees," it said.
Customs Duty
A Customs Duty is a tariff or tax which a country imposes on goods when they are transported across international borders. Customs Duties are used to protect countries' economies, residents, jobs, and environments, by limiting the flow of imported merchandise, especially restricted and prohibited goods, into the country. The Customs Duty Rate is a percentage determined by the value of the article purchased in the foreign country and not based on quality, size, or weight.
An executive with a logistics company with more than 100,000 customers talked about tariffs as a contributor to supply chain strains. So did the owner of a 200-person candy manufacturer, and a board member from the National Association of Home Builders. While tariffs were not the top concern for businesses mentioned at the hearing on how global supply chain kinks are hurting small businesses, companies said lifting them, even temporarily, would ease the pain of high shipping costs.
RANCHO MIRAGE, California -- Lawyers are seeing a rise in cases filed against customs brokers for failing to meet their fiduciary duties, said Cameron Roberts, a Roberts & Kehagiaras trade attorney. Many of the cases involve importers who allege their brokers didn’t correctly advise them about issues related to forced labor, Section 301 tariffs and certain agriculture imports, he said. “All of these issues are being put at the foot of the broker,” Roberts said, speaking during the Oct. 15 Western Cargo Conference.
Queen Apparel NY, and its sole owner, Hank Hyunho Choi, agreed to pay $50,000 and cease all future importing activities due to fraudulent underreporting of imports to evade customs duties, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York said. Queen and Choi admitted to falsifying customs documents to skirt the import duties, leading to the settlement. The company made and imported garments for other companies that would then sell those garments through department stores and retail chains in the U.S., the U.S. Attorney's Office said. Choi managed the business. From 2009 to 2013, Choi and his company made the garments overseas, brought them to the U.S. and then repeatedly undervalued the shipments on customs forms to evade paying the proper amount of duties. This conduct was discovered via a whistleblower who filed a lawsuit under the False Claims Act, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. The case was settled, with the eventual agreement containing admissions from Queen and Choi about the nature of their business and conduct during the relevant time period.
RANCHO MIRAGE, California -- CBP has faced some delays with beginning the next term of the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee, but it is very close to holding its first meeting, said AnnMarie Highsmith, CBP’s executive assistant commissioner in the Office of Trade. Highsmith also said the agency is on track to revamp its system for collecting customs duties, taxes and fees by 2024, and said its Section 321 data pilot has been a “big success.”
A group of domestic manufacturers and a labor union seek the imposition of new antidumping duties on oil country tubular goods from Argentina, Mexico and Russia, and new countervailing duties on oil country tubular goods from South Korea and Russia, they said in a petition filed with the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission Oct. 5. Commerce will now decide whether to begin AD/CVD investigations, which could result in the imposition of permanent AD/CV duty orders and the assessment of AD and CV duties on importers.
The Coalition of Freight Coupler Producers seeks the imposition of new antidumping and countervailing duties on freight rail coupler systems from China, it said in a petition filed with the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission Sept. 28. Commerce will now decide whether to begin AD/CVD investigations, which could result in the imposition of permanent AD/CV duty orders and the assessment of AD and CV duties on importers. The coalition consists of Amsted Rail Company and McConway and Torley LLC.
Importers can't make changes to the amount of antidumping or countervailing duties deducted from the transaction value even if there is a difference between the original cash deposit amount and the actual amount subsequently assessed on Delivered Duty Paid entries, CBP said in a May 26 ruling recently released by the agency. The ruling is a result of an internal advice request from the Industrial and Manufacturing Materials Center of Excellence and Expertise about AD/CV duties on entries of softwood lumber, CBP said. The ruling addresses multiple questions involving how and when such AD/CV duties can be deducted from the value based on a "representative entry."
The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated Sept. 24. The following headquarters rulings were modified recently, according to CBP:
The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated Sept. 24. The following headquarters rulings were modified recently, according to CBP: