World Trade Organization members have again agreed to extend a moratorium on imposing customs duties on data transfers, the WTO said in a Dec. 10 press release. The moratorium, which has been renewed at every opportunity since 1998, will now remain in effect at least until the WTO’s 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) in June 2020. WTO members, who were meeting as the WTO general council, also agreed Dec. 10 “to continue work under the existing 1998 work programme on e-commerce in the beginning part of 2020,” the release said. “The work in the run-up to MC12 will include structured discussions on issues that would help ministers take an informed decision by MC12.”
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.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Dec. 2-6 in case they were missed.
CBP is hoping to begin its risk-based bonding program for new importers of merchandise subject to antidumping and countervailing duties in March 2020, but there still remain some thorny issues that need to be ironed out. The agency is still working on ACE enhancements, including identifiers and queries for new importers, said Lisa Gelsomino, of Avalon Risk Management, at the Dec. 4 meeting of the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC).
CBP processed $2.6 trillion worth of imports and 29 million cargo containers in fiscal year 2019, which ended Sept. 30, CBP Deputy Commissioner Robert Perez said during the Dec. 4 Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee meeting. That's 3.4 percent more cargo containers than CBP handled the previous year, he said. The agency collected nearly $81 billion in duties, taxes and fees during FY19, he said.
Goods imported by members of the Yakama tribe from Canada are not exempt from customs duties despite an 1855 treaty between the U.S. and the Yakama Nation of Native Americans, CBP said in a Nov. 12 ruling. JC Company requested that CBP issue a binding ruling on whether that treaty “exempts the Yakamas from payment of customs duties on merchandise when they import into Washington State by ground from Canada.” As part of the request, the company pointed to a Supreme Court decision this year that affirmed that the “right to travel” provision of the treaty pre-empted a conflicting state law that involved importing fuel from Oregon to Washington state.
Trade observers don't think that the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will announce new tariffs on French products on Dec. 2, when it is scheduled to release a report on France's Digital Services Tax (see 1911270047), but there may be a list of potential targets for the future. Although the tax passed the French legislature in July, it has not been levied while U.S. and French authorities negotiate, and while the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development works on a global approach to taxing companies like Google, Facebook and others.
An importer’s owner and executive can’t be automatically held liable for customs fraud penalties only by virtue of their position in the company, the Court of International Trade said in a Nov. 25 decision. Specific facts must link the corporate officer to any allegations of customs fraud, CIT said as it granted a motion to dismiss a penalty case brought against an apparel importer and its owner.
The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated on Nov. 25. The following headquarters rulings not involving carriers were modified on Nov. 25, according to CBP:
The $3.3 million offer in compromise that settled civil liability for customs violations with CBP came about due to the work of an agency import specialist, a CBP spokesperson said. Satisloh, which imports machinery that is used in making optical lenses, made the offer in compromise (see 1911200042) after CBP said it “provided false descriptions, tariff classification numbers, and/or duty rates to CBP for the entries of certain machinery and repair parts.”
The Commerce Department issued Federal Register notices on its recently initiated antidumping duty investigations on forged steel fittings from India (A-533-891) and South Korea (A-580-904), and its recently initiated countervailing duty investigation on forged steel fittings from India (C-533-892).