The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will update three Section 301 tariff product exclusions in order to align the exclusions with changes made to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule on Jan. 27, USTR said in a notice posted to the agency website Jan. 25. The U.S. will implement broad changes to the HTS on Jan. 27, following amendments to the World Customs Organization's Harmonized System tariff nomenclature (see 2112230046).
Tim Warren
Timothy Warren, Executive Managing Editor, Communications Daily. He previously led the International Trade Today editorial team from the time it was purchased by Warren Communications News in 2012 through the launch of Export Compliance Daily and Trade Law Daily. Tim is a 2005 graduate of the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts and lives in Maryland with his wife and three kids.
The National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America released the names of those serving on the next Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee, in a Jan. 24 email. CBP provided the list to those members Jan. 18, the association said. Some work toward the 21st Century Customs framework has been on hold until the COAC returns for the new term (see 2109230031). CBP didn't comment.
The public comment period for input on how to implement the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act will begin Jan. 24, DHS said in a notice. Within the notice, DHS offers 18 questions that commenters may want to address as part of the process. Comments on the implementation will be due March 10. Effective June 21, the law will impose a new rebuttable presumption that goods linked to Xinjiang province are made with forced labor and are prohibited from being imported (see 2112280048).
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The Border Interagency Executive Council is meeting the functions spelled out in a 2014 White House executive order that tasked the BIEC with coordinating the government's trade requirements (see 14021928), it said in a new "report card." The council will continue to advance the functions mentioned in the EO, which include improving agency review of electronic data, encouraging foreign governments to use single window systems and developing metrics to measure ACE and other border management coordination, the BIEC said.
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CBP detained a total of 912 shipments between Oct. 1, 2021, and Dec. 31, 2021 over the possible use of forced labor on the goods, the agency said in recently updated trade statistics for fiscal year 2022. The agency didn't reach a similar number of detentions until August last year (see 2108300032) and reported 90 detained shipments during the same period of FY21 (see 2101290050). The total value of the detained shipments for this current fiscal year so far is about $185.9 million, it said.
BMW North America is unable to claim substitution unused merchandise drawback on motor vehicles owned and exported by BMW Manufacturing Co., CBP said in a recently released ruling dated Nov. 30. BMW NA planned to "substitute the exported motor vehicles owned by BMW MC for motor vehicles imported and duty paid by BMW NA" and asked for CBP input on whether that is allowed.
CBP detained a total of 1,469 shipments during fiscal year 2021, due to the possible use of forced labor on the goods, the agency said in an update on FY21 statistics. The agency also "processed approximately $2.8 trillion of imports, an increase of nearly 17 percent compared to the same period in Fiscal Year 2020," it said. "Overall, CBP collected approximately $93.8 billion in duties, taxes, and other fees on behalf of the U.S. government in FY2021, representing a 133% increase over a five-year period." CBP collected $74.4 billion in FY20.
DHS published its fall 2021 regulatory agenda for CBP with only one new trade-related action mentioned. The department said it intends to consolidate the regulatory authorities over immigration ports of entry, customs ports of entry and customs stations. The DHS secretary has authority over the customs ports of entry and stations, while the CBP commissioner oversee the immigration ports of entry, it said. "CBP is exploring ways to consolidate the authority to manage the two types of ports."