A summary of U.S. proposed text for a customs facilitation language in the Kenya-U.S. Strategic Trade and Investment Partnership says it is asking Kenya to publish all international trade information online, and to answer questions about trade without charging for the contact. It asks Kenya to maintain uniform procedures on advance rulings, and to provide appeals for customs administration issues. It asks Kenya to adopt a single window system for electronic forms and supporting documents, and to allow for immediate release of goods prior to a final determination of duties through customs bonds, and to accept electronic payment of duties.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission is expanding its “beta” pilot for its partner government agency (PGA) message set to 2,000 participants, and also extending the pilot for “up to three years,” or until a final rule implementing CPSC “eFiling” takes effect.
The Court of International Trade on May 31 said that a duty drawback claim becomes deemed liquidated after one year if the underlying import entries are also liquidated and final, with finality defined as the end of the 180-day window in which to file a protest with CBP.
CBP has released its May 29 Customs Bulletin (Vol. 58, No. 21), which includes the following ruling action:
The Court of International Trade on May 28 rejected the government's motion for partial reconsideration of the court's decision finding that the government violated the "implied contractual term" of reasonableness in waiting eight years to demand payment from surety Aegis Security Insurance Co. on a customs bond.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the weeks of May 13-19 and May 20-26:
The country of origin of a Whirlpool food waste disposer is Mexico and Section 301 duties don't apply, CBP said in a customs ruling dated May 15. The agency found that, despite the motor in the garbage disposal being of Chinese origin, the manufacturing process in Mexico substantially transformed the original components into subassemblies, which were then combined to make the final food disposer.
Senators and witnesses focused on de minimis and CBP's data collecting authorities -- both sides agreeing that data collection, particularly from partner government agencies, needs to be refined, and that de minimis is a useful trade facilitation tool.
CBP has released its May 22 Customs Bulletin (Vol. 58, No. 20), which includes the following ruling action:
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters: