NCBFAA Gaining 'Traction' on Push for More Notice of Section 232 Inclusions, Feldman Says
National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America leadership raised concerns about the Section 232 tariff inclusion process and plans for an external revenue service in recent meetings on Capitol Hill and with agency officials, NCBFAA customs counsel Lenny Feldman said in an interview.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
In town for the trade group's Government Affairs Conference Sept. 7-9, Feldman said the leadership recognized a “sense of collaboration” in discussions with CBP, the Commerce and Treasury departments, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and Congress. “I think the administration understands that the customs brokers are front and center when it comes to tariff collection,” he said.
The NCBFAA came away “really hopeful” from its discussions about Section 232 inclusions, stressing the need for the trade to get advance notice of new inclusions, after new steel and aluminum derivative tariffs were announced only three days before their effective date in August (see 2508150063). “We’re getting some traction,” Feldman said.
The NCBFAA suggested an in-transit rule for new Section 232 inclusions that would allow goods already loaded and on the water at the time of an announcement to have an exemption from the new tariffs, Feldman said.
On the external revenue service, the NCBFAA raised concerns about whether it makes sense to shift the burden of customs revenue collection given questions about whether foreign entities can be held accountable and the fact that the current system is doing its job of collecting revenue. There also are questions about how bonding would work, Feldman said.
He said that some officials were receptive, feeling that an external revenue service would be “a lot to take on right now, in light of everything that’s on our plate.”