Operations including the oiling of a machine, the fitting of a transformer to adjust electrical voltage and the uploading of software patches to a machine tool do not constitute manufacturing or use, and do not render the machine tool ineligible for unused merchandise drawback, CBP said in a recent ruling. The operations do not transform the machine tools into a new product, but merely make them operational for the end customer, CBP told Knuth Machine in HQ H290897, issued July 28 and publicly released Aug. 26.
Aluminum alloy stamped circular disc blanks imported by Sunbeam for subsequent pressing into cookware are not subject to antidumping and countervailing duties on common alloy aluminum sheet from China (A-570-073/C-570-074), said the Commerce Department in a scope ruling filed Aug. 23. The scope of the AD/CVD orders covers aluminum sheet in coils or cut-to-length, not steel stamped or punched into non-rectangular shapes prior to export from China, Commerce said.
CBP announced a two-year extension of its Section 321 data pilot, through August 2023, in a notice released Aug. 27. “CBP will extend the test for another two years to continue further evaluation of the 321 Data Pilot program and the risks associated with section 321 shipments,” it said. The pilot is still “limited to a maximum of nine participants,” said CBP, which has said it intends to expand the pilot to more participants (see 2108040012).
The Commerce Department made a preliminary affirmative antidumping determination that oil country tubular goods (OCTG) from Ukraine (A-823-815) are being sold in the U.S. at less than fair value. As a result, Commerce is directing CBP to suspend liquidation and require cash deposits of estimated AD duties on OCTG from Ukraine for all subject merchandise entered July 10, 2019, through June 30, 2020.
FDA is working with CBP to conduct a pilot on the use of blockchain and cloud technologies to trace food supply chains “from farm to importation,” said Dawne Hines, director of the FDA Division of Northeast Imports, July 22 during CBP’s Virtual Trade Week. The proof of concept aims to aid “government to government communications,” reduce data duplication and move toward the future elimination of paper, she said.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission is moving forward with an expansion of its import program to focus on e-commerce and de minimis shipments, said Jim Joholske, director of CPSC’s Office of Import Surveillance, at CBP’s Virtual Trade Week July 22. Recent increases in funding for the agency means CPSC now has the resources to focus on small shipments, and will allow CPSC to staff express carrier, air cargo and international mail facilities with import personnel, he said.
CBP plans to begin a pilot in late spring 2022 to test potential new global business identifiers to replace its much-maligned manufacturer/shipper identifier (MID) (see 1712080041), said James Byram, executive director of CBP’s Trade Transformation Office, July 22 at CBP’s Virtual Trade Week. In the pilot, the agency will test three potential business identifiers, with the expectation that, should the pilot succeed, it will end up requiring use of two of them as an MID replacement, Byram said.
As CBP moves toward implementation of a forced labor component in the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism Trade Compliance program, still hoped for by the end of September (see 2106250045), the agency is working to flesh out what will be required from participants and what benefits will be provided to them. As it stands now, CBP looks set to add a section on social compliance programs related to forced labor to the annual notification letters that are already required of the 300 some current CTPAT Trade Compliance participants, said Carmen Perez, branch chief of the Trade Compliance program at CBP.
CBP is in the process of setting up a second investigations branch in its forced labor division, putting to use additional forced labor funding budgeted by Congress for 2021, said Therese Randazzo, director of the agency’s forced labor division, during CBP’s Virtual Trade Week on July 21.
The 21st Century Customs Framework task force is looking at changes to CBP’s entry statute and legal provisions on administrative exemptions that would support a reimagined entry process that could bring unprecedented benefits for both enforcement and trade facilitation, agency officials said, speaking during the CBP’s Virtual Trade Week on July 20.