Drawback

CBP’s Jan. 14 mandatory use date for drawback, reconciliation, duty deferral and liquidation in ACE will also be the date that the ACE transition occurs for statements and Importer Security Filings (ISF), CBP said in a CSMS message (here). However, the Jan. 14 deployment does not include Manufacturer ID Add, because “this capability must be deployed at the same time as Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) Admissions (e214s).” Also, the ACE Product Code query will be removed from and no longer supported in ACE, CBP said.

CBP will require filing in ACE beginning on Jan. 14 for drawback and duty deferral entries (here) and reconciliation entries (here), it said. As of that date, filing in the Automated Commercial System for drawback, duty deferral and reconciliation will no longer be available, it said. CBP had previously mentioned the drawback deadline, and said it is targeting mid-January for other post-release functions including reconciliation, liquidation, duty deferral, collections and statements (see 1612010041).

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All drawback claims must be filed in ACE beginning on Jan. 14, 2017, CBP said in an update to its frequently asked questions on ACE drawback (here). “Yes, all types of drawback claims must be submitted in ACE starting on Saturday January 14, 2017,” CBP said, answering a question on whether manufacturing drawback claims must be submitted on that date. Open Automated Commercial System drawback claims submitted shortly before the transition will be migrated to ACE, it said in another recently added answer. CBP is also looking to move its other post-release capabilities into ACE in mid-January, a CBP spokeswoman said, without giving a firm date. "CBP is targeting mid-January for the deployment and mandatory transition of the remaining post-release capabilities, including drawback, reconciliation, liquidation, duty deferral, collections and statements. The precise date of deployment/mandatory transition is dependent on the publication of the liquidation Final Rule," she said. "CBP will issue additional guidance on the precise date of deployment/mandatory transition in the near future."

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

MIAMI – CBP’s ACE priorities will include implementation of existing legislation and urgent fixes to the truck environment after it completes ACE “core” in January and moves into a more difficult “operations and maintenance” funding environment, said Josephine Baiamante of CBP’s ACE Business Office at the Florida Customs Brokers & Forwarders Conference of the Americas on Nov. 14. The agency will also look at ways to work with other Department of Homeland Security agencies through ACE, before turning to a list of other capabilities the trade community has requested.

MIAMI -- CBP and the Customs Commercial Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) are ramping up efforts to improve the customs ruling process so importers can get quicker responses from CBP headquarters, said Brenda Smith, CBP executive assistant commissioner for trade, and Lenny Feldman of Sandler Travis, who co-chairs COAC’s trade modernization subcommittee. The COAC will announce a “public-private partnership” at its Nov. 17 meeting in Washington to build on its existing efforts to modernize the rulings process, Feldman said, speaking at the Florida Customs Brokers & Forwarders Conference of the Americas on Nov. 15.

ORLANDO – The U.S. government is considering how it would implement Trans-Pacific Partnership tariff phase-outs if the deal enters into force before ratification across all 12 parties, Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Market Access and Industrial Competitiveness, Office of U.S. Trade Representative, Sushan Demirjian said Oct. 19 at the National Association of Foreign-Trade Zones annual conference. Under the deal, if the full group of parties doesn’t approve TPP by Feb. 3, 2018, any group of six countries that together comprise 85 percent of TPP by Gross Domestic Product (GDP) -- which mathematically must include the U.S. and Japan -- would have 60 days to complete their respective legal procedures to implement the agreement, at which point it would provisionally enter into force for only those ratifying nations. If that doesn't happen, the deal would enter into force 60 days after six parties that make up 85% of combined TPP GDP ratify it. Only ratifying countries will realize TPP benefits upon its entry into force.

CBP recently issued a customs ruling providing further clarification of new requirements for goods returned duty-free under subheading 9801.00.10 of the tariff schedule that took effect in April pursuant to this year’s customs reauthorization law. Previously applicable only to goods of U.S. origin exported and returned to the U.S. after not having been improved or advanced in value, the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act extended duty-free access under the subheading to goods that are not of U.S. origin, as long as they are returned within three years (see 1603010043). As a result of the change, importers that enter goods of U.S. origin under subheading 9801.00.10 within three years of export no longer need to show that an article is a product of the U.S. if it is returned within three years, though other requirements in CBP’s regulations still apply, CBP said in HQ H276787 (here).

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