The U.S. Trade Representative announced that the U.S. will reduce or eliminate tariffs on certain Japanese machine tools, bicycles, bicycle parts, fasteners, steam turbines and musical instruments, as well as eliminating or reducing tariffs on 42 tariff lines that cover $40 million in food and agricultural imports from Japan, as part of a "mini-deal" recently agreed to by the two countries. Those food and agricultural imports include plants, flowers, persimmons, green tea, chewing gum and soy sauce.
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 National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America will submit a comment to CBP on the proposed rule (see 1908130031) aimed at tackling the problems of compliance for non-resident importers, according to Mary Jo Muoio, senior vice president, Trade Services and Government Relations, for Geodis USA. Muoio, who was responding to CBP Deputy Commissioner Bob Perez at the NCBFAA Governmental Affairs Conference in Washington Sept. 23, said the rule would have unintended consequences, because self-filers would not have to subject themselves to the same scrutiny.
The CBP Base Metals Center of Excellence and Expertise is overseeing a huge increase in the number of Post Summary Correction requests for retroactive application of Section 232 exclusions, agency officials recently told the American Institute for International Steel. "The Base Metals Center PSC workload has increased approximately 1500% from pre Section 232," AIIS said. As a result of that volume, "[w]hen exclusions are claimed retroactively by PSC, some time may be required to process," the trade group said.
Tomatoes imported from Mexico and sold on consignment can be valued using pricing data from the Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service, said CBP in a Sept. 12 ruling. Stein Shostak lawyer Richard Shostak requested the ruling on behalf of the Nogales Customs Brokers Association, the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas and the Texas International Produce Association, CBP said. Currently "almost all of the fresh produce presently being entered at Nogales is imported on consignment," CBP said. "In other words, the produce is not sold until after it is imported into the United States, and thus there is no sale for exportation."
Mexican tomato growers on Sept. 19 signed off on a final agreement to again suspend antidumping duties on Mexican tomatoes, they said in a press release. The deal still includes controversial provisions on mandatory inspections for most imports of Mexican tomatoes, but the growers say they were able to obtain concessions that should soften the impact of the controversial requirements.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is publishing three new sets of product exclusions from the 25 percent Section 301 tariffs on goods from China (see 1909180004). The product exclusions apply retroactively to when each tranche initially took effect. That was July 6, 2018, for the first tranche, Aug. 23, 2018, for the second tranche and Sept. 24, 2018, for the third tranche. The notice for the third tranche also includes "technical amendments" to lists three and four of the Section 301 tariffs that appear to end double counting of Section 301 tariffs on goods tariffed at a rate that comes from another subheading.
Former Rep. Phil English, R-Pa., now co-chairman of Arent Fox's lobbying team, says the incentives are in the wrong place for House Democrats to ratify the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. English was featured on an Arent Fox Sept. 16 webinar on "working through the chaos" along with Grant Aldonas, a former top trade lawyer on the Senate Finance Committee, former Sen. Byron Dorgan and two trade lawyers. English said if the economy worsens, it hurts Trump, not House Democrats, and that the NAFTA rewrite faces "a great deal of opposition" from elements of the Democratic coalition. He said it may never get ratified if it doesn't get done in the next two months.
An Italian textile manufacturer and its U.S. subsidiary will pay $650,000 to settle allegations in a False Claims Act whistleblower lawsuit that it artificially used “sham intermediary ‘sales’” to underpay duties, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York said in a Sept. 12 press release. Miroglio Textile declared on customs documentation that it sold fabric to Miroglio USA at arbitrarily discounted prices, when it was actually selling it directly to consumers at higher prices than it declared.
Vietnam continues efforts to crack down on the country of origin fraud and transshipment schemes that have become especially more frequent since the ramping up of U.S.-China trade tensions, according to reports in CustomsNews, the self-described “mouthpiece” of Vietnam Customs.
In the Aug. 21 Customs Bulletin (Vol. 53, No. 29), CBP published notices that propose to revoke rulings and similar treatment for arms sleeves and gloves.