ORLANDO – The U.S. government is considering how it would implement Trans-Pacific Partnership tariff phase-outs if the deal enters into force before ratification across all 12 parties, Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Market Access and Industrial Competitiveness, Office of U.S. Trade Representative, Sushan Demirjian said Oct. 19 at the National Association of Foreign-Trade Zones annual conference. Under the deal, if the full group of parties doesn’t approve TPP by Feb. 3, 2018, any group of six countries that together comprise 85 percent of TPP by Gross Domestic Product (GDP) -- which mathematically must include the U.S. and Japan -- would have 60 days to complete their respective legal procedures to implement the agreement, at which point it would provisionally enter into force for only those ratifying nations. If that doesn't happen, the deal would enter into force 60 days after six parties that make up 85% of combined TPP GDP ratify it. Only ratifying countries will realize TPP benefits upon its entry into force.
CBP recently issued a customs ruling providing further clarification of new requirements for goods returned duty-free under subheading 9801.00.10 of the tariff schedule that took effect in April pursuant to this year’s customs reauthorization law. Previously applicable only to goods of U.S. origin exported and returned to the U.S. after not having been improved or advanced in value, the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act extended duty-free access under the subheading to goods that are not of U.S. origin, as long as they are returned within three years (see 1603010043). As a result of the change, importers that enter goods of U.S. origin under subheading 9801.00.10 within three years of export no longer need to show that an article is a product of the U.S. if it is returned within three years, though other requirements in CBP’s regulations still apply, CBP said in HQ H276787 (here).
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
CBP officially revised its mandatory-use date for several post-release functions in ACE, the agency said in a notice (here). "The effective date is delayed until further notice" and CBP will publish a later notice establishing a new effective date, it said. The agency recently said it is aiming to require ACE for drawback, reconciliation, duty deferral, statements and liquidation in January next year (see 1609280072). "CBP has determined that industry partners need additional time to prepare for the transition to electronic post-release capabilities in ACE," CBP said.
NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE, Ontario -- The Canada Border Services Agency is “still stabilizing” its new Accounts Receivable Ledger (ARL) customs accounting and payment system, some nine months after it went live in January 2016, CBSA Comptroller Jen O’Donoughue said at the Canadian Society of Customs Brokers National Conference on Sept. 26. Many of the most serious issues are the result of payment misallocations that plagued the early stages of the transition, causing some importers to receive notices they owe debts despite having given money to their customs brokers to pay on their behalf. Those issues should no longer occur once CBSA works through a backlog of misallocated payments from February and March, which should be done in the next three months, she said.
CBP again delayed its mandatory use date for ACE drawback, reconciliation, duty deferral, statements and liquidation, the agency said on Sept. 28 (here). “In order to allow additional time for all stakeholders to prepare for this transition, and to provide the opportunity to solicit and receive public comment on the associated regulatory changes, CBP is rescheduling this transition which was previously scheduled for October 29, 2016,” it said. “CBP is targeting January 2017 for the revised deployment and mandatory date and will provide additional clarification regarding the precise transition date in the coming weeks.”
All refund claims and protests related to merchandise prohibited by the Food and Drug Administration "require documentation that substantiates the goods are prohibited," the CBP Los Angeles field office said in a public bulletin. "If you are unable to establish by a preponderance of evidence that the merchandise in question constitutes a prohibited article, you may file a CF 7553 -- Notice of Intent (NOI) for a future drawback claim along with the documents required for the supervised exportation or destruction, when the refused merchandise is presented to CBP at the time of exportation or destruction," CBP said. CBP won't "automatically issue refunds on FDA refused merchandise" and "will no longer automatically accept cancellation requests on entries where duties and/or fees were paid" after the merchandise was exported or destroyed, it said. "However, cancellation requests will be considered if no duties and/or fees were submitted."
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Sept.12-16 in case they were missed.
CBP and the trade community may still not be ready for ACE drawback and reconciliation by Oct. 29, despite CBP’s recent delay of the deadline, customs lawyer Michael Cerny said during a panel discussion at a National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America conference in Washington Sept. 12. Both systems have been “barely tested,” and software developers still aren’t ready with programming, said Cerny, who chairs the Trade Support Network’s drawback subcommittee. CBP’s CATAIR requirements and business rules still aren’t set with less than two months before the deadline, a situation reminiscent of the approach to CBP’s original November 2015 deadline for all of ACE, he said.
CBP faces a challenging budget environment for ACE as it works to find funding for improvements and new functionalities long desired by the trade community, said Cynthia Whittenburg, deputy executive assistant commissioner at CBP’s Office of Trade, at a National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America conference in Washington Sept. 12. Following completion of “core” ACE in December, the “funding profile” will “adjust downward” as CBP will be legally required to use ACE operations and maintenance funding for operations and maintenance, and will not be able to use the funds for building new capabilities, including for partner government agencies (PGAs). “So when you see in our appropriations and funding, 'ACE,' those dollars are going strictly to fixing bugs and keeping the system running,” she said.