U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted the weekly foreign currency exchange rate multipliers for the week ending January 13, 2012.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted an updated version of its spreadsheet of ACE ESAR A2.2 (Initial Entry Types) programming issues.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued a Federal Register notice stating that the first quarter 2012 (January 1 - March 31 ) Internal Revenue Service interest rates used to calculate interest on overdue accounts (underpayments) and refunds (overpayments) of customs duties are: 2% for overpayments by corporations; 3% for overpayments by non-corporations; and 3% for underpayments. These rates are unchanged from the corresponding rates in effect for the fourth quarter of calendar year 2011.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued CSMS Message #12-000007 announcing that it has conclusively determined that recently released Microsoft Internet Explorer version 8 security patch KB2585542 is not compatible with the current ACE application, and is affecting response times in the ACE Portal. If users have recently implemented the new Microsoft patch and are experiencing slow response times, CBP recommends that they remove the patch to use their ACE Portal accounts. CBP continues to investigate this issue and will provide additional information when available.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted presentation slides on its "Trade Transformation" initiatives for 21st century trade. Within the slides, CBP states that it seeks to improve cargo security while increasing trade competitiveness by fully aggregating risk management. This will be accomplished by leveraging end-to-end visibility of accounts that captures a holistic view of the global supply chain. CBP also outlines how it will accomplish this through its BEST goals: (1) Better Targeting; (2) Expedite Trade; (4) Segment Risk; (5) and Transaction Savings and through its various trade initiatives. These initiatives include Air Cargo Advance Screening (ACAS), Importer Security Filing (ISF), Simplified Entry/summary, ACE, Centers of Excellence and Expertise (CEE), and the role of the broker. CBP also maps out the supply chain for each mode of transportation and ACE.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Office of Information and Technology has posted an updated list of companies/persons offering data processing services to the trade community for the Automated Broker Interface (ABI) as of January 12, 2012.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued the following news releases related to commercial trade and related issues:

A listing of recent antidumping and countervailing duty messages posted to U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Web site as of January 13, 2012, along with the case number(s) and CBP message number, is provided below. These messages are available by searching on the listed CBP message number at http://addcvd.cbp.gov.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted an updated list of non-vessel operating common carriers (NVOCC) participants in the sea Automated Manifest System (AMS).

This summary report highlights the most active textile and apparel tariff preference levels¹ from U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s “Quota Weekly Commodity Status Report.” It also lists the TRQ commodities on CBP’s weekly “TRQ/TPL Threshold to Fill List.”