CBP published several thousand prospective rulings in 2019 on its Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) database. The agency issues its rulings from either the National Commodity Specialist Division in New York, which handles issues like classification, country of origin, marking and preferential treatment, or the Office of Regulations and Rulings at CBP headquarters in Washington, D.C., which may also decide other issues, such as valuation, drawback, exclusion order enforcement and liquidation.
Recent CBP regulations limiting the amount of drawback that can be claimed on excise taxes look set to be invalidated, after the Court of International Trade issued a decision Jan. 24 that found those limits contradict the legal framework created by Congress for drawback and legislative intent to expand the duty savings program.
The Court of International Trade issued a decision late on Jan. 24 finding recent CBP regulations limiting the amount of drawback that can be claimed on excise taxes were "unlawful." The court held that a final rule issued by CBP in December 2018 that aimed to prevent so-called “double drawback” contradicts the legal framework created by Congress for drawback.
The volume of imports from China fell about 20 percent across the fourth quarter, Flexport executives noted during a webinar Jan. 21 -- which represents both shifting to other categories of goods and re-orienting supply chains. Ryan Petersen, CEO of the freight forwarder, said 64 percent of its clients are paying additional tariffs because of the Trump administration policies.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
The International Trade Commission posted the 2020 Basic Edition of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule. The new HTS implements the U.S.-Japan trade deal that took effect Jan. 1, as well as changes to eligibility for African Growth and Opportunity Act benefits. Changes to units of quantity are also made to the tariff schedule, resulting in the complete elimination of UOQ "X" from the tariff schedule (except for in Schedule B), and new statistical breakouts are added in chapters 17, 38, 72, 76, 83, 84, 85 and 87. The changes took effect Jan. 1.
Michael Cerny, previously a lawyer with Sandler Travis, joined Charter Brokerage as chief legal officer, Charter said in a news release. Both Charter and Cerny specialize in drawback issues.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for 2019 in case they were missed.
The announcement of a phase one U.S.-China trade deal that included halving List 4A tariffs in place since Sept. 1 could do little to change damage done to small audio companies smacked by the previous three tranches of tariffs still in place, they said. Executives said in interviews this month have been hit hard by the duties with little hope other than to wait them out.
The Government Accountability Office and the Department of Homeland Security Inspector General each released a report on Dec. 17 that noted various issues within CBP's drawback program. The GAO's report suggested that CBP work to flag excessive export submissions and “establish a reliable system of record for proof of export,” among other things. The DHS IG report found that CBP “lacked appropriate documentation retention periods to ensure importers and claimants maintained support for drawback transactions” and didn't scrutinize prior drawback claims enough for claimants during 2011 to 2018.