NEW ORLEANS -- While a CBP pilot on pipeline imports may not at first glance have relevance for many importers, the ramifications of the pilot could have wide-ranging effects for importers and customs brokers as CBP applies any lessons learned to its development of ACE 2.0, according to Amy Magnus of A.N. Deringer.
A majority in the House voted to restore antidumping and countervailing duties on Southeast Asian solar panels ruled by the Commerce Department to be circumventing antidumping duties on the products from China, but the 221 votes in favor are far from a veto-proof majority.
CBP is providing an additional benefit to Trade Compliance program members of its Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism, the agency said in a letter to CTPAT members posted to the agency’s website April 26. Since March 5, the agency has been offering preliminary notifications of Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act holds, CBP said.
CBP modified a withhold release order on imports of synthetic disposable gloves manufactured by the Smart Glove group of companies, and will now allow gloves from the Malaysian company to enter the U.S. “provided they are otherwise in compliance with U.S. laws,” it said. “Shipments of Smart Glove’s synthetic gloves received on or after April 26, 2023 will no longer be detained at U.S. ports of entry,” CBP said. The original WRO was issued in 2021 (see 2111040045).
Changes to the de minimis statute, whether excluding China or changing the threshold, have gotten the most attention in Congress of any possible customs legislative change, but CBP says its 21st Century Customs Framework will not touch the issue.
Three senators asked Shein's CEO if the company's suppliers use cotton from Xinjiang, if they use laboratory testing to ensure there is no Xinjiang cotton in its garments, and other questions aimed at learning whether apparel made in part with forced labor is making it into the U.S. through the de minimis importation lane (see 2302090039).
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DHS is beginning a 90-day assessment of the “current threats and challenges” posed by China, including how China’s “malign economic influence” is exploiting U.S. supply chains. The agency also announced a new artificial intelligence task force to examine how DHS can use AI to better screen cargo and identify imports produced with forced labor.
The CBP executive whose directorate covers trade remedies, intellectual property enforcement and e-commerce said that small-value shipments coming to the U.S. are not slipping through uninspected, just because there are no duties owed. Brandon Lord, executive director of the Trade Policy and Programs Directorate, said in an interview with International Trade Today at the CBP Trade Facilitation and Cargo Security Summit: "There's a misconception that we don't target or screen de minimis -- it's not true. People throw around the phrase 'loophole.' It's not a loophole. De minimis is not a loophole."
CBP will on May 20 deploy automated Form 6051D detention notices in ACE, including for Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act detentions, the agency said in an April 21 CSMS message. “This enhancement will give importers the ability to view, search, and respond to CBP Form 6051D using the ACE Forms application accessible through the ACE Secure Data Portal,” CBP said.