International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Feb. 12-16 in case they were missed.
Drawback
A duty drawback is a refund by CBP of the duties, taxes, or fees paid on imported goods, which were imposed upon importation as prescribed in 19 U.S.C. 1313(d). More broadly, a drawback also includes the refund or remission of other excise taxes pursuant to other provisions of law.
The National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America recently called on CBP to address several holes that still remain in ACE. “While CBP has made great strides over the last few years in development of ACE, we are still in need of additional critical development to make ACE functional,” the trade group said in a white paper. An attached “Priority List” lays out the specific needs of the trade community and where CBP is in addressing them. The group raised similar issues in a Feb. 9 letter to Brenda Smith, executive assistant commissioner in the CBP Office of Trade, obtained by International Trade Today
CBP released its draft guidance for drawback changes under the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act to help provide detail on interim policies between when the agency starts accepting claims and when regulations are finalized. Along with a draft of Customs and Trade Automated Interface Requirements (see 1801290007) and business process documents, "this guidance document will serve as a reference for the tentative policy and procedures relating to major drawback change," CBP said. The agency recently said it did not expect to publish proposed drawback regulations by the time CBP starts taking TFTEA claims on Feb. 24 (see 1802020053).
CBP will deploy new eBond functionalities and the ability to accept entries from Cuba in ACE on Feb. 24, it said. On that date, ACE will start decrementing drawback eBonds when accelerated payment is requested, and an eBond bond status will be sent to sureties. Automated Surety Interfaces for entry summary nightly, entry summary quarterly and continuous bond (AS, AQ and BO) will also be generated from ACE, with all other Automated Surety Interfaces remaining in the legacy Automated Commercial System (ACS), CBP said. For Cuba, ACE will be updated to allow electronic entry and entry summary filing via the Automated Broker Interface (ABI), the agency said. “Filers should ensure their software vendors have updated their programs to allow Cuba to be reported as a valid country of origin,” CBP said. “Vendors should reference the latest ACE CATAIR [CBP and Trade Automated Interface Requirements] documentation for coding revisions.” Feb. 24 is also the ACE deadline for drawback, reconciliation and liquidation (see 1707270038).
CBP has consistently failed to hire mandated levels of trade-related staff, and bills recently introduced in the House and Senate aim to remedy the problem. Both bills only have Democratic sponsors. The bills propose hiring 500 new CBP officers and 100 new agricultural officers each year until the staffing shortage is resolved. The Senate bill says it would cost $69.5 million in each fiscal year from 2018 to 2024. The House version was released Feb. 6. The Government Accountability Office wrote last year that import specialists, customs auditors, national import specialists and drawback specialists have been below the mandated levels in at least three years. More broadly, the agency should have at least 8,658 CBP officers, the report said, and it had 6,889 in October 2014, the report said (See 1706130015). "Staffing shortfalls can impact CBP's ability to enforce trade effectively, for example, by leading to reduced compliance audits and decreased cargo inspections, according to CBP officials," the report said. "CBP cited several challenges to filling staffing gaps, including that hiring for trade positions is not an agency-wide priority."
CBP doesn't expect the Treasury Department to approve proposed regulations for coming changes to drawback procedures before the Feb. 24 effective date, a CBP spokesman said by email. The changes are the result of the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act, which allowed for two years of preparation before the drawback overhaul became effective. "CBP will, however, accept TFTEA drawback claims in" ACE, "with processing to occur once the regulations are finalized," the spokesman said.
CBP doesn't expect the Treasury Department to approve proposed regulations for coming changes to drawback procedures before the Feb. 24 effective date, a CBP spokesman said by email. The changes are the result of the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act, which allowed for two years of preparation before the drawback overhaul became effective. "CBP will, however, accept TFTEA drawback claims in" ACE, "with processing to occur once the regulations are finalized," the spokesman said. CBP has said it will only allow accelerated payment for TFTEA drawback claims after it issues its final rule (see 1801260036).
Requests for extensions or closures of Temporary Importation Bonds will be deployed in ACE on Feb. 24, a CBP official said on the agency’s biweekly ACE call with the trade community on Feb. 1. While output records will mostly be affected, CBP will also be putting in a new input record to request the extension or closure, the official said. CBP will set up a daily support call following the deployment, which also includes reconciliation, drawback and liquidation. The call will be available Feb. 26 through March 2 from 2p.m. to 3 p.m., with the call-in number still unannounced. Meanwhile, CBP also is implementing recently imposed safeguard duties on residential washers and solar cells in ACE, effective Feb. 7 (see 1801230052 and 1801240036). New tariff schedule subheadings will be added in Chapter 99, as will a secondary unit of quantity for kilowatt hours in Chapter 85 so CBP can track the quota amount for solar cells and force filers to the high-quota rate once it’s filled.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
CBP posted on Jan. 26 an updated draft of the Customs and Trade Automated Interface Requirements (CATAIR) guidelines for drawback procedures under the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act. The draft CATAIR is meant “to facilitate preparations for programming in advance of the forthcoming rulemaking,” CBP said. “The reader should be advised that this technical document is considered a DRAFT and is subject to revision before a final version is provided. Any decisions a reader makes based on this draft document are taken voluntarily and with the understanding that the draft may be revised,” it said.