CBP has “adjudicated” a ruling that will allow manufacturers in foreign-trade zones to avoid Section 232 tariffs on aluminum and steel, as well as planned Section 301 tariffs on products from China, a CBP official said on the agency’s biweekly ACE conference call held June 21. FTZ manufacturing operations have up to now been required by Census Bureau and Commerce Department guidance to enter goods manufactured in FTZs as originating in the country that provided the goods’ highest value in inputs, even if those inputs are worth relatively little and for CBP purposes the country of origin should be the United States. While it hasn’t been an issue before, now that Section 232 duties are in place and Section 301 tariffs are coming it can result in those manufacturers being required to declare a good as subject to the extra tariffs even when the good is of U.S. origin. A ruling is coming that says to use “U.S.” as country of origin for such merchandise on entry documentation, the CBP official said. A search on CBP’s CROSS database indicates the ruling has not been published as of press time.
The International Trade Commission released Revision 4 to the 2018 Harmonized Tariff Schedule, making several changes related to recently imposed Section 232 tariffs on aluminum and iron and steel products. The updated tariff schedule includes a series of new tariff subheadings in chapter 99 used to administer quotas on South Korean steel that form part of that country’s exemption agreement, as well as new language in the subchapter notes to chapter 99 on the Section 232 tariffs. The changes took effect May 1.
The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was "migrated to the cloud" on April 16, a CBP spokesman said. "While the basic functionality of CROSS remains the same, we have modernized the interface and added a feature which allows users the ability to narrow search results by searching only within a specified date range," he said.
The Court of International Trade on July 13 found an importer negligently misclassified entries of bags for storing cold beverages, despite having consulted its customs broker as to the correct classification (here). Farhan Khan did not exercise reasonable care because he should have consulted other sources after receiving three conflicting suggestions from his broker, and improperly relied on his broker's opinion to classify related but different beverage bags, CIT said.
More work is needed between CBP and the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) in moving toward an update to the agency's approach to rulings, said Brenda Smith, executive assistant commissioner with the Office of International Trade, at the March 1 COAC meeting. Smith sounded appreciative of the ideas from the COAC Rulings and Decisions Improvement Working Group, while also somewhat skeptical, given potential costs involved. "I would really welcome a conversation where I get to ask a lot of questions about your recommendations." Among the recommended improvements are an expiration date for rulings hosted on the Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS), and automated processing and dissemination of rulings requests and decisions (see 1702270016).
CBP posted documents for the upcoming Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) meeting on March 1 (here) in Washington. Among the posted items are draft recommendations from the Rulings and Decisions Improvement Working Group of the Trade Modernization Subcommittee (here) that suggest CBP work to ensure sufficient resources for the Office of Regulations and Rulings (R&R) "in light of the foreseeable, imminent shifts in U.S. trade and border policy." The agency must be able to maintain "trade and other critical subject matter priorities despite other issues that may become of significant concern," it said. "COAC also feels this is necessary due to the Administration’s mandate to eliminate two regulations for every one regulation that the Government issues."
The Food and Drug Administration’s revised Foreign Supplier Verification Program proposal is a step in the right direction, but there are still ambiguous and burdensome requirements that need to be ironed out, according to several trade associations in comments on FDA’s September supplemental proposed rule. Several sets of comments, including from the Association of American Exporters and Importers, the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America, and the Cheese Importers Association of America, continued to highlight identification of the “FSVP Importer” tasked with complying with FSVP as a main concern.
Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated Feb. 26 with 100 rulings, bringing the total number of searchable rulings to 180,897. The most recent ruling is dated 02/25/14.
Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated Feb. 24 with 84 rulings, bringing the total number of searchable rulings to 180,805. The most recent ruling is dated 02/21/14.
Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated Feb. 18 with 162 rulings, bringing the total number of searchable rulings to 180,723. The most recent ruling is dated 02/12/2014.