The U.S. and Ecuador signed a phase one trade agreement that goes beyond the World Trade Organization's Trade Facilitation Agreement with requirements for online publication of customs information and customs brokers requirements; duties and fees; electronic submission of customs declaration and phytosanitary certificates; a single window for import and export; and advanced rulings that cover classification, valuation, origin, and application of quotas. Ecuador also agreed to no penalties on minor errors, unless they're part of a consistent pattern, and a procedure to correct errors without penalties.
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.
The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated Dec. 4. The following headquarters rulings were modified recently, according to CBP:
The National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America is urging members to lobby their representatives for a provision that would allow companies to receive refunds for Section 301 duties paid when they learned too late that the product qualified for a tariff exclusion. If an entry had been liquidated before the exclusion was announced, CBP cannot refund the duties paid, even though the exclusions are designed to be retroactive. The group is hoping this provision can be included in the omnibus spending bill that may pass this month, it said.
The Court of International Trade on Dec. 1 sent an Enforce and Protect Act (EAPA) evasion determination back down to CBP for reconsideration, finding the agency failed to properly disclose information to the accused that it relied on to find the importer guilty of evasion. CBP’s regulations require the agency to make available public summaries of any redacted or business confidential information on the record of an EAPA investigation, but CBP did not do so during a proceeding involving Royal Brush Manufacturing, a pencil importer alleged to have transshipped Chinese pencils through the Philippines to avoid antidumping duties, CIT said.
The Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) for CBP will next meet remotely on Dec. 16, CBP said in a notice. Comments are due in writing by Dec. 15.
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from Nov. 16-20 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The Commerce Department issued a notice in the Federal Register on its recently initiated antidumping duty investigations on polyester textured yarn from Indonesia (A-560-838), Malaysia (A-557-823), Thailand (A-549-843) and Vietnam (A-552-832).
C.H. Robinson “identified potential savings for its customers of roughly $980 million related to exclusion refunds” since the first Section 301 tariffs were put in place in 2018, the company said in a recent news release. Some 96% of those are “product-specific which require a more complex, time-consuming analysis for qualification,” it said. “The U.S.-China trade war has added another layer of complexity to what has been a challenging global transportation market over the past year,” said Mike Short, president of global forwarding at C.H. Robinson. “As we have consulted with businesses of all sizes, it’s clear that the biggest barriers to duty recovery for these companies are a lack of time, data, and expertise to navigate the complex and lengthy application process.” The last of the exclusions expire Dec. 31.
The European Council approved a tariff package that would eliminate customs duties on U.S. lobster imports in exchange for reduced U.S. duties on several European Union products, including prepared meals, crystal glassware, surface preparations, propellant powders and lighters (see 2008210028). The package, which the European Union said would be the first EU-U.S. tariff reduction in two decades, could increase market access for both EU and U.S. traders by about $240 million per year, the council said in a Nov. 18 news release. The package needs European Parliament approval. If enacted, it would take effect retroactively from Aug. 1 for five years.
A recent strategic plan on intellectual property enforcement strategy and policy efforts mandated by statute calls for more executive action to strengthen CBP's hand, statutory changes to allow injunctions against online marketplaces that list counterfeit goods, and possible changes to who can ship de minimis packages. The plan is required under the Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2008, known as PRO-IP.