President Donald Trump issued Presidential Proclamation 9813 on Oct. 30, implementing the final results of the 2017-18 Generalized System of Preferences review and, in the process, making changes to tariff classification provisions for fruit juices. According to the recently issued results of the review, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is denying nearly all requests for waivers, removing nearly all country-product pairs that exceeded import limits from GSP eligibility.
Gold and silver jewelry produced in Turkey is eligible for Generalized System of Preferences benefits because the goods went through a double transformation within the country, CBP said in an Aug. 7 ruling. Arpas International, represented by Cowan Liebowitz, requested a further review of protest on the entry. GSP eligibility was questioned upon entry due to documentation sufficiency issues, CBP said.
The Philippines Secretary of Trade and Industry Ramon Lopez and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer issued a joint statement Oct. 22 describing "achievements resolving bilateral trade issues" between the two countries. The Philippines and U.S. have agreed to cooperate on automotive standards for imported autos; the Philippines has agreed to not discriminate against foreign electronics payments providers; and the U.S. will help the Philippines develop stronger cold chain practices, so it can export food that needs to be kept cold.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is holding a meeting to review Generalized System of Preferences eligibility for eight countries on Nov. 29, the USTR said in a notice. The Trade Policy GSP Subcommittee is examining whether Ecuador is acting in good faith to enforce an arbitration award, a dispute originated by Chevron (see 12092604). It is examining whether workers in Bolivia, Georgia, Iraq, Thailand and Uzbekistan have rights up to international standards, challenges brought by the AFL-CIO or another labor nonprofit (see 1511240017 and 11110124). And it is continuing to examine whether Laos should join the program. The committee is examining whether Indonesia and Uzbekistan are adequately protecting intellectual property rights. The meeting will begin at 10 a.m. at 1724 F St. NW in Washington, DC.
The government of Canada recently issued the following trade-related notices as of Oct. 15 (some may also be given separate headlines):
A toolset that is classifiable under a subheading not covered by the Section 301 tariffs is still subject to those tariffs because one of the components is subject to the tariffs, CBP said in a Sept. 6 ruling, HQ H299857. CBP's ruling followed a request for reconsideration of a ruling on the toolset at issue. Marilyn-Joy Cerny of Sandler Travis filed the reconsideration request and argued that the initial ruling "improperly extended the Section 301 measures to sets classified in subheading 8206.00.00," CBP said.
The International Trade Commission issued Revision 12 to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule. The relatively comprehensive update implements as of Oct. 1 new provisions for wood products agreed to by the World Customs Organization, and adds new subheadings for pesticide-impregnated bed nets in Chapter 63. Other changes include new provisions for the third, $200 billion list of 10 percent Section 301 tariffs that took effect for goods from China beginning Sept. 24, as well as new exemptions for certain products from Section 201 safeguards on solar cells that took effect Sept. 19.
The Court of International Trade on Sept. 24 dismissed a lawsuit from an importer whose Generalized System of Preferences refund request was denied as late, even though the cause was a misunderstanding with the importer’s customs broker. Industrial Chemicals had missed the 180-day deadline to file requests for refunds of duties paid during the GSP lapse of 2013-15. The importer had through a series of emails understood that its broker would request the refunds, and vice versa. After its eventual refund request was denied because it was filed after the deadline, Industrial Chemicals had protested, arguing the issue amounted to a “clerical error, mistake of fact, or other inadvertence.” CBP denied the protest in a ruling issued in November 2017 (see 1711170036). The trade court agreed, finding CBP’s decision was not protestable. The law renewing GSP “clearly states that importers must submit requests for retroactive application of GSP over certain entries by December 28, 2015,” CIT said. “Although Customs makes certain decisions related to the liquidation or reliquidation of merchandise, the plain language of the statute does not appear to give Customs discretion in administering refunds for this particular lapse in GSP,” it said.
CBP recently posted its “estimated schedule” for upcoming deployments in ACE. Made possible by an additional $34 million in appropriations set aside for CBP ACE development this year (see 1805010035), agency development priorities include Section 321 filing capabilities in the Automated Broker Interface and automation of collection of CBP Form 5106 importer identity information (see 1805230061).
The Court of International Trade declined to grant summary judgments sought by both parties in a lawsuit over the correct classification of Ziploc plastic bags. CIT Judge Jennifer Choe-Groves ruled that "because genuine issues of material fact remain unresolved, the court denies the cross-motions for summary judgment and the case shall proceed to trial." The case involves Ziploc bags imported from Thailand through the Port of Los Angles in 2013. S.C. Johnson & Son, represented by Pisani & Roll, challenged CBP's classification of the bags as “articles for the conveyance or packing of goods” in heading 3923. S.C. Johnson argues that the bags are better classified in heading 3924 as “other household articles.” While CIT denied the summary judgment requests, it declined to address the classification arguments, including whether Generalized System of Preferences benefits apply.