Fourteen trade groups wrote to the U.S. trade representative asking him to strip language in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement that suggests the de minimis level could be lowered to be closer to the NAFTA region trading partners' levels. The letter, sent Nov. 6, was initiated by the National Foreign Trade Council, and notes that Congress unilaterally raised the de minimis level in 2016 because "reduced logistics costs improve the bottom line of American small businesses across industries who import low value components for assembly and value-added manufacturing operations." It helps firms that import samples, the letter said, and benefits "importers and logistics firms by reducing the time and cost to process millions of shipments and shaving a half-a-day or more from clearing each shipment."
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
The main advisory committee for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative unanimously supports the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement as "far better than the existing NAFTA," and encouraged Congress to enact it as quickly as possible. The committee includes three union leaders, and the rest of its 21 members are either from right of center think tanks or business interests.
CBP will require advance electronic manifest filing for all commercial trucks with Section 321 shipments starting Jan. 1, the agency said in a Nov. 5 CSMS message. The growth in e-commerce "combined with the increase in the De Minimis value, has resulted in a significant growth in shipments being manifested and released under Section 321," CBP said. "The lack of an electronic manifest eliminates CBP’s ability to conduct a risk assessment or perform advance targeting within the Automated Targeting System (ATS), results in slower processing times and longer wait times."
No business or labor group came out against the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, in comments filed to the International Trade Commission, even as some groups expressed concerns about aspects of the deal to replace NAFTA. Comments are due before the ITC holds a hearing on Nov. 15.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Oct. 22-26 in case they were missed.
President Donald Trump issued Presidential Proclamation 9813 on Oct. 30, implementing the final results of the 2017-18 Generalized System of Preferences review and, in the process, making changes to tariff classification provisions for fruit juices. According to the recently issued results of the review, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is denying nearly all requests for waivers, removing nearly all country-product pairs that exceeded import limits from GSP eligibility.
Two U.S. manufacturers on Oct. 26 withdrew their request for Section 201 safeguard duties on bicycles, just one week after the petition was filed (see 1810230048). The document from Bicycle Corporation of America and Detroit Bikes notifying the International Trade Commission of the withdrawal provided no reason for the move, but Kelsey Rule, the attorney representing the companies, said it was “the result of a confidential settlement agreement between private parties.” The ITC had on the previous day sent a letter identifying deficiencies in the petition and requiring that they be corrected by Oct. 31 for the petition to receive consideration. Those omissions included concrete data on injury, including idling of production facilities, declining profitability or unemployment, as well as import data for the past five years. The petition had said import data on the bicycles included under the petition -- those valued under $400 -- was unreliable because many imports are entered under Section 321 and don’t show up in statistics. It also said the injury to U.S. industry had occurred in the mid-1990s when U.S. manufacturers were pushed out by low-priced imports.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Oct. 15-19 in case they were missed.
Two domestic bicycle manufacturers filed a petition Oct. 19 seeking new Section 201 safeguard duties on mass-market bicycles. Detroit Bikes and Bicycle Corporation of America say the dominance of imported mass-market bicycles makes it impossible for U.S. manufacturing to re-establish itself. The companies seek a tariff-rate quota over a period of four years, along with a decrease in the de minimis level for imported bikes and duty-free access for parts used in U.S. bicycle manufacturing operations. The duties would apply to bicycles from all countries, though the International Trade Commission can exempt free trade agreement partners.