CBP is planning an initially lax approach to enforcement of certifications of origin once the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement enters into force on July 1, said Maya Kumar, director of textiles and trade agreements at CBP, while on a June 1 agency webinar about the deal. “The first six months of this trade agreement, we can pretty much say there will be very little enforcement to no enforcement,” she said. “We understand the position, CBP understands the position that we're in. So we will use maximum flexibility” to avoid putting “trade under stress.” In the unlikely event of a USMCA-related request for information through a Customs Form 28 during those six months, CBP will allow for “extra time to go ahead and get the documents you need from the suppliers,” she said. “The idea is that for the first six months to be extra flexible and then to still use flexibility when we request documents.”
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will grant extensions to 16 exclusions from the first list of Section 301 tariffs on China that were due to expire June 4, it said in a pre-publication copy of a notice posted to its website. The exclusions that weren't extended will expire June 4.
CBP added on May 21 the ability in ACE for importers to file entries with recently excluded goods in the fourth tranche of Section 301 tariffs, it said in a CSMS message. The official Office of the U.S. Trade Representative notice for the exclusions was published on May 8 (see 2005110027). The exclusions are in subheading 9903.88.47. The exclusions are available for any product that meets the description in the Annex to USTR’s notice, regardless of whether the importer filed an exclusion request. The product exclusions apply retroactively to Sept. 1, 2019, and will remain in effect until Sept. 1, 2020. The CSMS message also includes a summary of Section 301 duties that shows information on each tranche of tariffs and granted product exclusions.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for May 18-22 in case they were missed.
Aspects Furniture International used evasion to avoid antidumping duties on wooden bedroom furniture, CBP said in an Enforce and Protect Act final determination released May 21. The American Furniture Manufacturers Committee for Legal Trade (AFMC) filed allegations of evasion in 2017 (see 1708170024), though CBP said it was already looking at the company's entries for possible evasion. The lawyer for Aspects, Robert Snyder, said in an email that the determination "is going to be the subject of an administrative appeal within the regulatory timeline" and noted that the CBP's findings aren't final until the appeals process is completed.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative issued some new product exclusions from Section 301 tariffs on the third list of products from China, according to a pre-publication copy of a notice posted to the agency’s website May 21 (see 2005220014). The product exclusions apply retroactively to Sept. 24, 2018, the date the tariffs on the third list took effect, and will remain in effect until Aug. 7, 2020. New Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the U.S. subheading 9903.88.48 will be used for these products.
A machine used for mining cryptocurrency differs from computers and other electronics classified as automatic data processing machines, CBP said in an April 30 ruling. Coinmint, which imported a Bitmain Antminer S9 Bitcoin Miner in 2016, requested a CBP ruling after the agency liquidated the entry under subheading 8543.70.99, which provides for “Electrical machines and apparatus, having individual functions, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter; parts thereof: Other machines and apparatus: Other: Other: Other.” The company said the mining machine should be classified as an ADP machine.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for May 11-15 in case they were missed.
The Trump administration continues to seek some major changes to the Section 321 provisions that allow for streamlined customs processing for low-value shipments, said Megan Costello, a lobbyist with Sorini, Samet and Associates. Some in the administration want a total removal of the benefit, while others only want to make sure low-value shipments are subject to Section 301 tariffs, she said. Costello gave a presentation as part of the National Association of Foreign-Trade Zones virtual conference on May 13. An administration official said in April the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative was looking at how it can address some issues with the provisions (see 2004290052)
CBP added on May 14 the ability in ACE for importers to file entries with recently excluded goods in the third tranche of Section 301 tariffs, it said in a CSMS message. The official Office of the U.S. Trade Representative notice for the exclusions was published on May 8 (see 2005050037). The exclusions are in subheading 9903.88.46. The exclusions are available for any product that meets the description in the Annex to USTR’s notice, regardless of whether the importer filed an exclusion request. The product exclusions apply retroactively to Sept. 24, 2018, and will expire after Aug. 7, 2020. The CSMS message also includes a summary of Section 301 duties that shows information on each tranche of tariffs and granted product exclusions.