The Court of International Trade will allow a customs broker test-taker to proceed with a challenge to his failing grade, denying a motion to dismiss from the government that argued his case didn’t meet procedural requirements. Byungmin Chae’s delay in appealing to the trade court was caused in part by CBP’s own misleading statements, and his early missteps in the case before hiring a lawyer should not bar him from a hearing in court, CIT said in a decision May 7.
Licensed Customs Broker
Customs brokers are entities who assist importers in meeting federal requirements governing imports into the United States. Brokers can be private individuals, partnerships, associations or corporations licensed, regulated and empowered by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Customs brokers oversee transactions related to customs entry and admissibility of merchandise, product classification, customs valuation, payment of duties, taxes, or other charges such as refunds, rebates, and duty drawbacks. To obtain a customs broker license, an individual must pass the U.S. Customs Broker License Exam. Customs brokers are not government employees and should not be confused with CBP officials. There are approximately 11,000 active licensed customs brokers in the United States.
The Commerce Department is delaying a requirement for aluminum import licenses that had been set to take effect March 29, it said in a message on its website. The agency will soon publish a Federal Register notice again pushing back the effective date its agency’s Aluminum Import Monitoring System, which requires importers of aluminum or their customs brokers to submit information in an online portal to obtain an automatically issued license, then to submit the license number with entry summary documentation.
The Commerce Department will delay a requirement for aluminum import licenses under its new Aluminum Import Monitoring System until June 28, CBP said in a CSMS message sent March 29. “At the request of the Department of Commerce the [Aluminum Import Monitoring] license requirement has been delayed until June 28, 2021,” CBP said. “We have updated ACE to remove the LPC requirement.”
The Commerce Department will put new aluminum import licensing regulations on hold and seek more comments on the program, it said in a notice released Jan. 25. “This delay in effective date is necessary to allow the incoming Administration time to review the Final Rule and consider any additional comments before implementation,” Commerce said. Comments on the final rule are now due Feb. 26. “Parties are invited to comment on all aspects of the Final Rule and” the Aluminum Import Monitoring and Analysis System, it said.
Customs broker notifications and requested documents that were previously sent to CBP headquarters should go instead to the email address for CBP's Broker Management Branch, the agency said in a CSMS message. That email address is brokermanagement@cbp.dhs.gov. “Documents do not need to be both emailed and mailed, as the notification will be received through the Broker Management Branch inbox,” it said. Among documents that should be emailed are national permit applications, exam appeals, license application appeals, license name change requests, notice by license qualifier of termination and changes in brokerage ownership, CBP said. “All documents required by licensing and permitting District offices are still to be sent to those offices via the means prescribed by those locations.”
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
CBP scheduled its semiannual customs broker license exams for 2021 to be administered on Wednesday, April 21, and Thursday, Oct. 21, the agency said in a notice. The exams are typically given on the fourth Wednesday in April and October. “Due to the limited availability of testing sites caused by state and local restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, CBP has changed the regularly scheduled dates of the examination,” the agency said.
A Commerce Department license is required for prefabricated pipe spools that include components that would require such a license when imported separately, CBP said in a Dec. 28 CSMS message. “Where the [Harmonized Tariff Schedule] classification requires a license under the Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) Program, a license is required for each entry summary line reporting that HTS classification,” CBP said. “Where the license is required but not reported for an entry summary line for an HTS, ACE will reject the entry filing. Accordingly, importers must obtain from Commerce, and report at the time of entry summary filing, a steel import license number for every entry summary line of a pipe spool where the HTS requires a steel import license.”
New licensing requirements for aluminum products are now set to begin Jan. 25, 2021, under a Commerce Department final rule creating a new Aluminum Import Monitoring and Analysis System. Similar to the Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis System in place since 2005, the new scheme requires importers of aluminum or their customs brokers to submit information in an online portal to obtain an automatically issued license, then submit the license number with entry summary documentation.
CBP is seeking public comment on whether to impose continuing education requirements on licensed customs brokers, it said in a notice released Oct. 27. The notice, an advance notice of proposed rulemaking, is the latest development in the long-discussed idea of adding such requirements (see 2002130025). CBP's notice goes over a number of possible scenarios for how continuing education could be administered and asks for input on a wide range of operational questions.