International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Oct. 30-Nov. 3 in case they were missed.
CBP will likely adopt a hybrid “dual calculation system” for drawback in ACE, with substitution drawback calculated using line item per unit average and invoice level calculations for direct identification drawback, the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America said in an emailed update on Nov. 6. The decision will have “significant implications,” because line items previously claimed using substitution drawback would be ineligible for direct identification drawback, and vice versa, the trade group said. CBP is also considering making all merchandise imported in any entry claimed in a drawback claim under the existing law unavailable for substitution drawback claims under the new procedures of the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015, it said.
An importer and domestic retailer of footwear and handbags that accepts customer returns with "no questions asked" would need to provide more information in order to meet the requirements for unused merchandise drawback claims, CBP said in a July 25 ruling. Carlo Pazolini (USA) LLC submitted the claims for unused drawback in 2013 and 2014, which were rejected by the Port of New York/New Jersey due to lack of proof about use. Pazolini protested the rejections and said that the merchandise in question showed "no evidence of use."
CBP should update its regulations to give more details about the processing of forced labor allegations under the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act (TFTEA), Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said in an opening statement at an Oct. 24 hearing on the nomination of Kevin McAleenan for CBP commissioner. The Committee's ranking member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., also sought clarity on the forced labor regulations. McAleenan said "we want to make sure we are able to apply all effective enforcement tools in the most precise and appropriate manner to this priority mission."
SAN DIEGO -- The rollout of ACE electronic foreign-trade zone capabilities set for Dec. 9 won’t include a comprehensive air split shipment filing mechanism as previously planned, CBP Cargo Security and Controls Director Jim Swanson said during the National Association of Foreign-Trade Zones conference Oct. 23. “It’s going to work exactly the way it is right now,” he said. “Nobody was really ready for it, and it didn’t do quite what we wanted it to do. There were some issues with how it communicated with manifest systems.”
It’s unclear whether U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement (CFTA) provisions related to drawback, certificates of origin and import relief measures would spring back into force if the U.S. withdraws from NAFTA, according to a recent Q&A posted by the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America. NAFTA Implementation Act Section 107 states that some CFTA provisions will remain suspended until the suspension itself is terminated. This could mean that those suspensions would, by default, remain active in any post-NAFTA world, even though Canada and the U.S. formally agreed through a January 1993 exchange of letters to broadly suspend the operation of CFTA when NAFTA took effect, with the suspension “to remain in effect for such time as the two governments are Parties to NAFTA,” the NCBFAA said.
CBP is seeking comments by Dec. 19 on an existing information collection for free entry of returned American products, it said in a notice. CBP proposes to extend the expiration date of this information collection with no change to the information collected or to the estimated burden hours associated with the collection.
RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. -- CBP is “currently on schedule” with its development of ACE drawback capabilities set for deployment in February, Acting CBP Commissioner Kevin McAleenan said Oct. 13 at the Western Cargo Conference (WESCCON). The agency is “planning success but will have a back-up plan” for any hiccups associated with the drawback deployment, and will share any contingency plans with the trade community this fall, he said.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Oct. 2-6 in case they were missed.
With CBP regulations on new drawback procedures still not issued, software developers are growing concerned about whether they will be ready for the new system’s upcoming deployment in ACE. CBP has pledged to have capabilities in place for the new Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act drawback provisions on Feb. 24, but though the agency has found funding and begun its own programming efforts, software developers have been unable to start coding, leaving little time for testing before the deadline, several developers said in interviews.