U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has posted the following to its Web site:
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.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued an interim rule, effective March 7, 2005, which amends 19 CFR Parts 10, 24, 162, 163, 178, and 191 for the U.S.-Chile Free Trade Agreement (US-CFTA).
The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued a notice announcing that it is initiating two anticircumvention inquiries, as requested by a petitioner, to determine whether imports of mixed wax candles composed of petroleum wax and varying amounts of either palm or vegetable-based waxes from China are circumventing the antidumping (AD) duty order on petroleum wax candles from China.
In the March 2, 2005 issue of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Bulletin (CBP Bulletin) (Vol. 39, No. 10), CBP issued a notice proposing to revoke a classification ruling on Protamine Sulfate. CBP states that it is also proposing to revoke any treatment it has previously accorded to substantially identical transactions that are contrary to its position in this notice.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued an interim rule, effective March 7, 2005, which amends 19 CFR Parts 10, 24, 162, 163, 178, and 191 for the U.S.-Chile Free Trade Agreement (US-CFTA).
According to Shippers' NewsWire, Senator Hutchinson introduced a bill (S. 376) on February 15, 2005, which calls for at least 50% of containers, beginning in 2007, to be equipped with tracking and monitoring technology that can notify authorities that the container has been breeched by terrorists or criminals. The article notes that Hutchinson's bill also calls for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to report on how requiring advance submission of purchase orders, shipper's letter of instruction, commercial invoices, letters of credit, certificates of origin, and other transaction information can enhance U.S. Customs and Border Protection's (CBP's) container inspection targeting system. After being introduced, S. 376 was referred to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. (SNW dated 03/03/05, www.americanshipper.com.)
According to an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) press release, the interest rates for the third quarter of fiscal year (FY) 2005 (April 1, 2005 - June 30, 2005) for overpayments and underpayments of Customs duties are:
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has posted the following to its Web site:
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued its QBT containing its implementation and processing instructions for Mauritius' portion of the "Third Country" sublimit for eligible apparel from lesser-developed AGOA beneficiary countries.
The ITA states that if it does not receive, by the March 31, 2005 deadline, a request for the review of entries covered by an AD or CV duty order or suspended investigation listed above for the identified review period, it will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to assess AD or CV duties on those entries at a rate equal to the cash deposit of (or bond for) estimated AD or CV duties required on those entries at the time of entry, and to continue to collect the AD or CV cash deposit previously ordered.