Strengthening ties with partner government agencies and industry has helped CBP to seize shipments that violate intellectual property rights and the greater engagement is hoped to translate into disrupting dumped steel shipments, CBP Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske said on May 18 during the Global Supply Chain Summit hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (here). The new interagency task force will complement CBP’s recent use of single transaction bonds and imposing of “live entry” requirements on higher risk imports to protect government revenue and to find and deter evasion (see 1603030015)., he said. On May 2, CBP announced the creation of the unit to combat steel dumping and forced labor shipments (see 1605030032).
CBP addressed several concerns recently raised by importers and the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America about coming rules on imports made by forced or child labor (see 1605090007). There are several paths for importers to defend allegations importing goods subject to withhold release orders, said a CBP spokeswoman in an email. The agency also responded to questions about its use of risk-based targeting for WROs and training for CBP officers at the ports.
CBP will be “much more aggressive” in enforcing trade laws, and will use tools including withhold release orders, seizure, and review of financing streams, CBP Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske told the Senate Finance Committee during a May 11 CBP oversight hearing. CBP is also stressing to industry the usefulness of simple tipoffs of potential trade crimes, despite the fact that stakeholders have submitted more formal documentation, like position papers, to request CBP enforcement action, Kerlikowske said. This should help small or medium-size enterprises (SMEs) to request action at a lower cost, he said.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for May 2-6 in case they were missed.
A "broad array" of importers are "greatly concerned" with a CBP rulemaking that will revise the agency's regulations on imports made by forced or child labor, said the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America in an email to members. The rule changes are a result of the customs reauthorization law which repealed the "consumptive demand" exemption to the ban on imported products made by forced labor (see 1603010043). "There are a great number of unanswered questions about how the forced-labor provisions will now be enforced," said the NCBFAA. Among the open issues are how an importer will defend an allegation and CBP's plans for targeting, the trade group said. CBP didn't comment, but recently released a set of frequently asked questions on the issue (see 1604220017). CBP Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske is scheduled to testify for the Senate Finance Committee about customs reauthorization implementation on May 11.
A Trade Enforcement Task Force within CBP's Office of Trade will allow the agency to better focus on antidumping and countervailing duty evasion and stopping products manufactured using forced labor, said CBP Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske during a conference held by metal trade associations on May 2 (here). "The task force will allow us to more aggressively enforce the approximately 270 AD/CVD orders on steel, alloy, and other metal products -- 150 on steel products alone," he said at the joint meeting of the American Iron and Steel Institute and the Metals Service Center Institute. "The CBP task force will harness the agency’s collective trade enforcement expertise as a focal point for coordination with other government agency partners," said the agency in a separate news release (here).
CBP should take a new look at its penalty mitigation guidelines, the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) recommended during its April 27 meeting. A more "uniform" application of mitigation policies, which were last updated in 2004, is needed "in light of technology advances, trusted trader programs, and inter-agency enforcement partnerships," the COAC Trade Enforcement and Revenue Collection subcommittee said. "Particularly in cases of less egregious violations, CBP should enforce and mitigate on more of an account-based, as opposed to transactional approach," it said.
Merchandise detained as a result of a CBP withhold release order can either be re-exported or the importer can submit information as proof the merchandise isn't in violation, the agency said in a list of frequently asked questions about forced labor petitions (here). The customs reauthorization law repealed the "consumptive demand" exemption to the ban on imported products made by forced labor (see 1603010043). "Shipments subject to findings can be excluded or seized," said CBP. CBP recently issued its first forced labor withhold release orders in over 15 years (see 1603310034).
TUCSON, Ariz. -- The customs reauthorization law makes for an "exciting and perhaps challenging" time for customs brokers, CBP Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske said during a speech at the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America conference on April 20. He pointed to new requirements that brokers collect information on new and foreign importers and CBP's ability to revoke licenses due to terrorist involvement, as well as other pieces that will have the biggest effect on brokers. Kerlikowske was scheduled to testify on the new law for a Senate Finance Committee hearing scheduled for April 20, but it may be postponed so Kerlikowske can attend the funeral of a recently killed border agent, he said.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for April 11-15 in case they were missed.