AUSTIN, Texas -- CBP remains committed to implementing drawback changes in ACE by the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act’s February 2018 deadline, but contentious issues remain as the agency considers concurrent regulatory changes to its drawback program that are required by the same date, government officials and industry representatives said at the American Association of Exporters and Importers (AAEI) annual conference on June 21.
All the attorneys from Cerny Associates will be moving to Sandler Travis, Michael Cerny said by email. Michael Cerny will be vice president with the Sandler Travis Trade Advisory Services drawback group, the firm said in an emailed news release. The titles for the other lawyers weren't specified in the release.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for June 12-16 in case they were missed.
More commenters on NAFTA renegotiations pushed for the U.S. to protect development of ACE and a North American single-window system in any updated agreement. The American Association of Exporters and Importers said in comments to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (here) that NAFTA should allow electronic signatures for the certification process in all three parties. The signature should be generated by software identifying and authenticating the signer and confirming the signer’s approval, AAEI said. “Acceptance of this type of electronic signature is distinct from NAFTA’s current and outdated practice of requiring certificates that are either hand-signed or that include an electronically reproduced image of an original handwritten signature.”
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for June 5-9 in case they were missed.
CBP can’t assess the effectiveness of enforcement activities largely because its plans generally lack targets to evaluate performance, and the agency continues to fall short of congressionally directed staffing levels in some job categories, the Government Accountability Office said in a report released June 12 (here). CBP hasn’t met minimum staffing levels set by Congress for four of nine positions that perform customs revenue functions over the past five years, said the report, which was mandated by the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act (TFTEA)
NAFTA negotiators should embrace trade facilitation and “do no harm” to existing cross-border relationships as they rework the agreement, trade associations said in comments to the U.S. Trade Representative (here). USTR on June 13 extended the deadline for comment submission on the expected NAFTA renegotiation from June 12 until 11:59 p.m. on June 14, citing "high interest" and a need to ensure all interested participants have an opportunity to comment. USTR requested input on potential modifications to the agreement following the administration’s formal notification to Congress that it intends to start renegotiating the agreement as early as mid-August (see 1705220007 and 1705180043).
CBP updated its information pages on ACE (here) following the agency's announcement that it will require the use of ACE beginning July 8 for drawback and duty deferral entries and entry summaries (see 1706070042). The agency updated its specific pages for drawback (here), duty deferral (here), reconciliation (here), statements (here) and liquidation (here).
CBP will require ACE filing beginning July 8 for drawback and duty deferral entries and entry summaries, it said in a notice (here). The same July 8 deadline will also apply to reconciliation and recently announced changes to post-summary corrections and period monthly statements (see 1612090021 and 1701060029), it said (here). On that date, CBP’s legacy Automated Commercial System (ACS) will no longer be authorized for drawback, duty deferral and reconciliation filings, the agency said.
SCOTTSDALE, Arizona -- The increase in the de minimis value threshold last year seems already to be driving a shift in international trade patterns, said Brenda Smith, executive assistant commissioner for the CBP Office of Trade, during a May 25 interview at the West Coast Trade Symposium. "What we're seeing is significant changes in supply chains," reflected in the growing number of Section 321 entries, she said. For example, one port in Alabama with few CBP officers "is suddenly getting this flood because it's close to a distribution center," she said. Likely, that's a result of container-loads full of under $800 small packages that qualify for de minimis, she said.