The U.S. requested a panel under the rapid response mechanism in the USMCA for the third time to investigate a Canadian mining facility located in Mexico. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said that the U.S. and Mexico were unable to come to an agreement and so "the United States therefore has determined that it is appropriate to request a panel to verify the facility’s compliance with Mexican labor laws."
CBP CROSS Rulings
CBP issues binding advance rulings in connection with the importation of merchandise into the United States. They issue the rulings to give the trade community transparency of how CBP will treat a prospective import or carrier transaction. Common rulings include the tariff classification, country of origin, or free trade agreement applicability of merchandise, among other things. These rulings are available in CBP's Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) database.
The Treasury Department’s recent delegation of its customs revenue functions to DHS “will make the regulatory process much more efficient and ensure everyone has adequate input,” acting CBP Commissioner Troy Miller said in opening remarks at the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee meeting Dec. 11.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
A listing of recent Commerce Department antidumping and countervailing duty messages posted on CBP's website Dec. 5, 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 CBP's ADCVD Search page.
Court-ordered reliquidations aren't actions taken by CBP and can't be protested, the government said in oral arguments held Dec. 6 before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. As a result, the Federal Circuit doesn't have jurisdiction to hear Target's appeal of a liquidation ordered by CIT, the U.S. said (Target v. U.S., Fed. Cir. # 23-2274).
Judges at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Dec. 4 questioned importer Nature's Touch Frozen Foods (West) and the government regarding the tariff classification of frozen fruit mixtures. Judge Todd Hughes led the bulk of the questioning, pushing Nature's Touch on how to classify the goods if the court finds that the mixtures aren't food preparations, as claimed by the company, and how they should be classified instead under Harmonized Tariff Schedule heading 0811, which covers certain frozen fruit (Nature's Touch Frozen Foods (West) v. U.S., Fed. Cir. # 23-2093).
CBP has released its Dec. 4 Customs Bulletin (Vol. 58, No. 48), which contains no ruling actions but includes a notice of the revocation of U.S. Virgin Islands-based AmSpec as a customs-accredited laboratory and customs-approved gauger. It also includes three Court of International Trade slip opinions.
Embossing and foil labeling operations don't constitute a use or materially change the goods, and such products are therefore eligible for unused merchandise drawback and in the same condition for the purpose of claiming drawback under USMCA, CBP determined in a recent ruling.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
In the Nov. 27 Customs Bulletin (Vol. 58, No. 47), CBP published proposals to modify or revoke ruling letters concerning MTD Cub Cadet utility vehicles and external defibrillators and their components.