Drawback

International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Jan. 22-25 in case they were missed.

CBP will postpone the entire ACE deployment that was planned for Feb. 9, due to the partial federal government shutdown, it said in a CSMS message. Government agencies resumed full operation on Jan. 28. The deployment includes "automation of CBP Form 5106, unique identifiers for Centers of Excellence and Expertise," and updates to the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), CBP said. The agency will send out any updates on the deployment through another CSMS message. CBP previously said it planned to delay deployment of Form 5106 (see 1901170046). CBP also said that the "mandatory filing of drawback claims pursuant to the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 (TFTEA) is not impacted by the shutdown and will proceed as planned, regardless of funding status after February 15th. On February 24, 2019, all drawback claims must be filed as TFTEA drawback and must be done so electronically in ACE."

CBP is now accepting claims for drawback on Section 301 duties on products from China, said John Leonard, executive director-trade policy and programs, on a conference call held Jan. 23 to discuss issues related to the ongoing federal government shutdown. The agency has fixed a bug in ACE that was preventing Section 301 drawback claims and is now able to begin processing, though the agency’s ability to resolve particular issues will be limited due to staffing issues caused by the ongoing shutdown, he said.

International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Dec. 31 - Jan. 4 in case they were missed.

CBP is not processing any refunds during the government shutdown, said John Leonard, CBP executive director-trade policy and programs, during a Jan. 7 conference call with industry. The agency is "not processing refunds of any kind on any type of normal entry or drawback transaction," Leonard said. The liquidation process is functioning, but "the backend refunding process and issuing of checks is not happening," he said. Interest may apply to those delayed refunds, Leonard said.

Further litigation over the final drawback rules under the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act is widely expected, with the most likely target being the provisions on drawback for excise taxes, according to multiple lawyers watching the issue closely. One lawyer mentioned ongoing discussions with tobacco firms to file a lawsuit over the excise tax issue, while the wine industry, which could see an end to more than $50 million in annual refunds, would be another likely litigant. The so-called "double drawback" for excise taxes is the most obvious piece to be challenged, but there are some other issues that could face legal scrutiny.

Customs brokers may still be sued under state laws despite a 1995 law that barred state claims against companies engaged in ground transportation, the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts said in a Dec. 20 decision. The federal law only pre-empts claims against motor carriers, freight brokers and forwarders engaged in ground transportation, and customs brokers don’t fall under any of those categories, the court said, allowing portions of an importer’s case against C.H. Robinson to go forward.

International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Dec. 17-21 in case they were missed.

Lawmakers were unable to reach a federal government funding deal on Dec. 21, resulting in a shutdown that began at 12:01 a.m. on Dec. 22 and has no clear end in sight. CBP held a conference call on Dec. 21 with members of the trade to discuss the agency's operations during a shutdown, according to the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America. CBP will have conference calls during the shutdown and is preparing a CSMS message to detail its plans, the NCBFAA said.

CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:​