Renegotiations of NAFTA could be an opportunity for the U.S. to push for a common North American single-window platform, panelists said during a U.S.-Mexico trade and security event on June 14. “We have to harmonize the whole enchilada. There’s no other way,” said Jose Martin Garcia, a representative for the Mexican Customs Administration at the Mexican Embassy in Washington, during an event hosted by the Wilson Center’s Mexico Institute and the Border Trade Alliance. “We’re already starting. I don’t know if it’s going to take two years, five years, ten years. Is the NAFTA renegotiation an opportunity to work on that? Perhaps.”
A CBP final rule will remove "consumptive demand" considerations from the agency's regulations when looking at possible use of forced labor for imported goods, the agency said in a notice (here). The changes are the result of the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act (TFTEA), which repealed the exemption for imports necessary to meet the "consumptive demands" in the U.S. from the prohibition on forced labor goods (see 1603010043). While CBP previously considered making additional regulatory changes (see 1606170040), "this rulemaking is limited to this conforming amendment and other minor non-substantive amendments," CBP said. A CBP official recently said the agency would need more time to consider making other changes (see 1705260007).
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.
Despite the near elimination of an account for ACE development in the proposed fiscal year 2018 budget (see 1705230031), CBP is requesting additional funding for ensuring the system continues to operate smoothly, according to its FY 2018 budget justification (here). The proposed budget includes an “increase of $45.1 million” in FY 2018 for “ACE Core Functionality,” including funding for additional “software sustainment teams.” CBP is also requesting substantial increases in funding required to implement mandates in the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015.
CBP is developing a repository of possible deregulatory actions that could serve as offsetting actions for regulatory proposals considered "significant" by the Office of Management and Budget, said Alice Kipel, executive director of CBP's Office of Regulations and Rulings (OR&R), during a May 8 interview. Federal agencies, under a January executive order, are required to repeal two regulations for each new regulation seen as "significant" by OMB (see 1702070048). So far, though, OMB has not flagged any trade-related CBP regulations as "significant," Kipel said. "At this time, with respect to the regulations that CBP has in the interagency review process, I am not aware of any trade regulation that has been deemed 'significant' by OMB and offsetting regulations would not be immediately" necessary if it hasn't been deemed significant, she said.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for April 24-28 in case they were missed.
There's been a "reinvigoration" of forced labor enforcement issues at CBP following the repeal of the "consumptive demand" exemption last year (see 1603010043), said Alice Kipel, executive director of CBP's Office of Regulations and Rulings. The "consumptive demand" consideration served as a deterrent to companies bringing information to CBP, but with that now repealed, "we're seeing more being brought to our attention," she said. Kipel, who spoke on a panel at the American Bar Association International Law Conference on April 28, said she was speaking on her own behalf rather than for CBP.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for March 13-17 in case they were missed.
President Donald Trump’s fiscal 2018 budget blueprint proposed to strengthen the Commerce Department International Trade Administration’s enforcement and compliance functions, according to the plan released March 16 (here). The blueprint laid out high-level plans for “rescaling” ITA’s export promotion and trade analysis functions. In total, the White House is requesting $7.8 billion for Commerce, $1.5 billion less than annualized funding under the fiscal 2017 continuing resolution (CR). The Trump administration plans to submit a comprehensive fiscal 2018 budget request for congressional approval in May, the Department of Homeland Security said in a press release (here). The budget also proposes to eliminate the U.S. Trade and Development Agency and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation.
CBP may demand redelivery of goods subject to a withhold release order (WRO) related to the suspected use of forced labor, said Lisa Burley, chief, Cargo Security, Carriers and Restricted Merchandise Branch at CBP, during the Georgetown Law Center International Trade Update on March 10. Asked whether CBP would require redelivery in cases in which a withheld shipment is among a series of shipments from the same exporter to the same importer, Burley said the agency has demanded redelivery in such situations previously. CBP makes that decision "import by import" and is also dependent on the specifics of the WRO, she said. "If we are aware of a time frame of when things are exported to the United States, then that may dictate whether we demand redelivery on all of them."