The National Marine Fisheries Service will allow a period of “informed compliance” after compliance with new ACE filing requirements for certain species under the Seafood Import Monitoring Program takes effect Jan. 1, CBP said in a CSMS message. Entries rejected because of missing or incorrect SIMP data that cannot be resolved in a “timely manner” may be refiled under the same entry without the SIMP message set, the agency said. The entries will be released with a warning message as long as all other NMFS filing requirements are met, and the filer will be required to submit the correct SIMP information “as soon as possible.” Entries that are not corrected “in a timely manner” will be “targeted with a full chain of custody audit,” NMFS said.
CBP should remove from its regulations a limit of "one shipment per day" for imports under $800, the National Association of Manufacturers said in comments to the agency about rules considered onerous (see 1712120024). That shipment limit goes against "modern business practices where manufacturers may need to import commodities, component[s] or other goods on a 'just in time' basis," NAM said. "Manufacturers recommend that CBP eliminate the one shipment per day provision to be consistent with the" Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act, which raised the dollar value of the de minimis threshold.
The U.S. should keep pressing Mexico and Canada to raise their de minimis levels and work to collaborate with them on trade enforcement against dumping and illegal subsidies during the ongoing NAFTA renegotiation, lawmakers heard in testimony for the House Foreign Affairs Trade Subcommittee Dec. 12. While Canada and Mexico have said they’re not “ready” to get on board with a U.S. proposal to raise their $15 and $50 respective de minimises to the U.S.’s $800 level, an increase could spur an e-commerce boom as de minimis wasn’t a consideration in the original NAFTA negotiations, Council of the Americas Vice President Eric Farnsworth said during a hearing. A negotiating impasse on de minimis is slowing completion of an updated NAFTA customs chapter (see 1712010039).
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Dec. 4-8 in case they were missed.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Nov. 27 - Dec. 1 in case they were missed.
ATLANTA -- Customs proposals put forth by Mexico during the NAFTA renegotiation include language covering joint cargo processing along the U.S.’s southern border and manifest harmonization, Jose Garcia, representative for taxation and customs affairs at the Mexican Embassy in Washington, said Dec. 5, during the CBP East Coast Trade Symposium. “These are new ideas Mexico has put on the table,” Garcia said.
ATLANTA -- CBP is waiting for NAFTA negotiations to “mature” before making a final decision on how it will handle Section 321 shipments, Acting Commissioner Kevin McAleenan said during opening remarks at the East Coast Trade Symposium on Dec. 5. Though the agency had “hoped to articulate a clear path forward” at the conference, the agency has to “let that dialogue play out with our key partners in Canada and Mexico,” he said.
Disagreement on de minimis thresholds is the one obstacle to closing an updated NAFTA customs chapter, an area where talks have progressed significantly during the ongoing renegotiation of the pact, according to three sources with knowledge of discussions. Advancement on the de minimis issue principally depends on Canada’s level of willingness to increase its $15 (USD) threshold, after Canadian negotiators declined to engage on the issue following contentious U.S. proposals pitched during the fourth negotiating round in Arlington, Virginia, two of the sources said.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative late on the afternoon of Nov. 17 released an updated list of NAFTA negotiating objectives, including new language on objectives to “increase transparency” in import and export licensing processes among the parties and to reinforce commitments to continue practices to review and correct countries’ final administrative actions, “if warranted.” The updated list continues most of the language of the original negotiating objectives released in July (see 1707180022), including all of the same customs proposals, consisting of positions to raise Canada’s and Mexico’s de minimis thresholds to $800, reduce customs documents and procedural formalities, and provisions to provide for automation for import, export and transit processes.
The U.S. is willing to negotiate bilateral trade agreements on the basis of fairness and reciprocity with “any country” in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) group region, President Donald Trump told other nations’ leaders during the 25th annual APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting on Nov. 11 in Da Nang, Vietnam, according to a White House fact sheet. Trump's remarks come after trade ministers from the now 11 Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP-11) member states on Nov. 9 and 10, in Da Nang, Vietnam, reached an agreement to implement the deal without the U.S., which withdrew in January (see 1701300020).