CBP issued its weekly tariff rate quota and tariff preference level commodity report as of Sept. 23. This report includes TRQs on various products such as beef, sugar, dairy products, peanuts, cotton, cocoa products, and tobacco; and certain BFTA, DR-CAFTA, Israel FTA, JFTA, MFTA, OFTA, SFTA, UAFTA (AFTA) and UCFTA (Chile FTA) non-textile TRQs, etc. Each report also includes the AGOA, ATPDEA, BFTA, DR-CAFTA, CBTPA, Haitian HOPE, MFTA, NAFTA, OFTA, SFTA, and UCFTA TPLs and TRQs for qualifying textile articles and/or other articles; the TRQs on worsted wool fabrics, etc.
Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated Sept. 23 with 193 rulings, bringing the total number of searchable rulings to 179,099. The most recent ruling is dated 09/19/2013.
CBP opened registration for its East Coast Trade Symposium scheduled for Oct. 24-25, the agency said in a CSMS message. Registration is available (here). Session topics include Centers of Excellence and Expertise and the coming pilot program combining trusted trader programs, according to a recently released agenda (see 13091911).
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related issues:
A listing of recent antidumping and countervailing duty messages from the Commerce Department posted to CBP's website Sept. 19, along with the case number(s) and CBP message number, is provided below. The messages are available by searching for the listed CBP message number at addcvd.cbp.gov. (CBP occasionally adds backdated messages without otherwise indicating which message was added. ITT will include a message date in parentheses in such cases.)
Drawback claims made on goods exported to Chile after January 1, 2012 are subject to U.S.-Chile Free Trade Agreement special treatment as described in 19 U.S.C. 1313(j)(4)(B) and 1313(n), said CBP in a CSMS message. U.S. duty drawback on exportations to Chile started being phased out January 1, 2012, for the following types of drawback:
CBP issued a Sept. 13 final determination concluding that Japan is the country of origin for NEC iPasolink 250 and 650 microwave radios. The digital microwave radios are used for wireless point-to-point communications, and their hybrid nature “enables the simultaneous transmission of both Time Division Multiplexed and ethernet-based data in their native formats.” According to a letter from the Office of International Trade, the radios are comprised of two main units, the indoor unit (IDU) and the transmitter-receiver unit chassis (TRX). The TRX, along with the radio’s branching circuit and modem, are manufactured in Japan, while the radio’s IDU, main card, tributary unit, the power supply unit and fans are manufactured in India. These components are then shipped to the U.S. for assembly, testing and software customization.
CBP released a draft agenda for the recently announced Oct. 24-25 Trade Symposium (see 13091711). House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., and Deputy Secretary General Sergio Mujica for the World Customs Organization will give the keynote addresses. Session topics will include the Centers of Excellence and Expertise and the coming pilot program combining trusted trader programs.
CBP issued a Sept. 11 final determination concluding that China is the country of origin of CyberPoint International’s video teleconferencing server Prescient T7-FW. The server, which captures motion picture images and sound and sends them digitally, ensures that the digital data is sent securely between two units via Ethernet. CBP said the key hardware components of the server are the video board, which converts image and sound into digital data, and the filter board that is programmed with Linus software to protect the Ethernet connection from malware infiltration. The video board is manufactured in China and “has connections for various video input and output formats, two USB connections and two Ethernet connections,” CBP said. The filter board that provides the necessary and secure LAN connection of the server is also made from a DreamPlug unit manufactured in China, though it is programmed with software and reinstalled later in the U.S., according a letter from the Office of International Trade. The server’s power supply and metal case are also produced in China.
CBP’s acting commissioner Thomas Winkowski said the agency has made significant progress with Beyond the Border Action Plan initiatives towards U.S.-Canada cooperation despite budget restraints, during a Sept. 13 U.S.-Canada Border conference. Of the 32 initiatives, Winkowski said that CBP is involved in 15 and has interest in five others that will add "momentum to CBP’s modernization efforts such as early analysis of flows of goods and travelers, effective risk management, and streamlining trade processing.”