The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has projected that applying Section 301 tariffs to the contents of packages that previously benefited from de minimis, as proposed in the House (see 2407080049), would increase revenue from tariffs by about $23.5 billion in the 2024-2034 period, but would only require reprogramming of ACE and more money for data storage and ACE maintenance, not new CBP officers. The CBO estimated that improving ACE would cost $3 million, and that CBP would need $2 million annually to maintain the system.
CBP has released its Aug. 14 Customs Bulletin (Vol. 58, No. 32), which includes the following ruling actions:
Former President Donald Trump said Aug. 14 that he wants to impose a 10% to 20% tariff on “foreign countries that have been ripping us off for years,” making what seems to be a slight change to the 10% tariff on all U.S. imports that he proposed last year (see 2308290005).
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
CBP created Harmonized System Update 2412 on Aug. 13, containing 1,000 Harmonized Tariff Schedule records and 4,158 Automated Broker Interface (ABI) records. The update includes several updates to PGA HTS flag indicator for AMS (AM7) and adjustments required by the verification of the 2024 HTS. Any questions or concerns on the PGA HTS Flagging may be sent to itdssupport@cbp.dhs.gov, and questions about the update itself should be directed to the HTS admin at HTSAdmin@cbp.dhs.gov.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., urged Congress this month to pass two bills aimed at reducing U.S. reliance on China for critical minerals.
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President Joe Biden is again increasing the quantity of solar cells allowed under a Section 201 safeguard tariff-rate quota, he said in a proclamation issued Aug. 12. Retroactively effective for entries on or after Aug. 1, imports up to a 12.5 GW limit will now be allowed in duty-free, up from 5 GW prior to that date.
The Canada Industrial Relations Board determined on Aug. 9 that stopping freight rail service in Canada would not result in an immediate and serious danger to the safety or health of the public. This means that members of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) could go on strike as early as Aug. 22 should union members and the two Canadian freight railways, Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) and Canadian National (CN) fail to negotiate a new labor contract.
Womenswear company Alexis will pay nearly $7.7 million to settle a whistleblower False Claims Act case, which alleged that the company underpaid customs duties on its apparel imports, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida announced Aug. 9.