CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
The Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee for CBP holds its next quarterly meeting Dec. 11 remotely and in person in Washington, D.C., at 1 p.m. EST, CBP said in a notice. Comments are due by Dec. 6.
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
Although some trade attorneys have been worrying that a Trump administration will discourage a Republican Congress from bringing back Generalized System of Preferences program tariff breaks for developing countries, members of the House Ways and Means Committee did not endorse that point of view.
Todd Owen, who served as executive assistant commissioner for field operations at CBP for about five years before retiring in 2020, argued that hundreds of millions of dollars for technology upgrades, and staffing expansions, would be more helpful to catch contraband in the small package environment than removing Chinese goods or other restrictions.
Members of the House Ways and Means Committee majority, who will lead the extension or expansion of the first Trump term income tax cuts, are expressing some hesitancy about using tariffs as a pay-for.
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, in its annual report to Congress, said that ending de minimis for all e-commerce is one of its top 10 recommendations, and said that if Congress passes such a law, it should provide CBP adequate resources to implement and enforce the change.
Outgoing Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., last week formally introduced a bill restricting de minimis eligibility for textiles and apparel from anywhere in the world, as well as goods subject to Section 301 tariffs (see 2408020031). The bipartisan bill goes beyond the version that passed the House Ways and Means Committee, in that it adds apparel to the list of restricted items, and it would levy a $2 fee on de minimis packages, to help CBP fund its inspections of the low-value packages. The Biden administration is planning to issue a proposed rule before Jan. 20 that would remove Section 301 goods from de minimis, but it can't add the fee through rulemaking.
House Select Committee on China Chairman Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Mich., proposes increasing tariffs on nearly all Chinese goods to at least 35% and raising tariffs on "strategic goods" to 100%, with exceptions only for goods that are currently sourced only from China.