CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
An importer must pay nearly $1 million in penalties for customs fraud, after the Court of International Trade on July 9 found the importer knowingly misclassified its entries to save on duty, despite repeated instructions from CBP on the correct classification of the merchandise.
A domestic manufacturer filed a petition July 7 with the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission requesting new antidumping duties on seamless carbon and alloy steel standard, line and pressure pipe from the Czech Republic, South Korea, Russia and Ukraine, and new countervailing duties on the same products from South Korea and Russia. Commerce will now decide whether to begin AD/CVD investigations on seamless carbon and alloy steel standard, line and pressure pipe that could eventually result in the assessment of AD/CV duties.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced a new round of product exclusions for products on the fourth list of Section 301 tariffs on products from China, as well as a series of modifications to current exclusions, including several for face masks, to reflect recent changes to the tariff schedule that took effect July 1.
The administration thought that allowing traders to certify that goods qualify for USMCA without having to use a specific form would be liberating, but traders continue to be confused about what to write, and wish there were a template to follow. There will be a template posted on the CBP website eventually, but it has not been done yet, a week after the USMCA replaced NAFTA.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will grant extensions to 12 exclusions from the first list of Section 301 tariffs on China that were due to expire July 9, it said in a notice. The 98 exclusions that weren't extended, all listed in U.S. Note 20(n) to subchapter III of chapter 99 and filed under subheading 9903.88.11, will expire July 9. The 12 extended exclusions will now expire Dec. 31, USTR said.
A three-judge panel at the Court of International Trade will hear a recently filed Section 232 challenge that opens a new front in the battle of steel importers against the tariffs. Maple Leaf Marketing (MLM), distributor of oil industry pipe that is exported from the U.S. to Canada for processing before being re-imported in improved form, says that CBP in April illegally expanded Section 232 tariffs to cover U.S. goods returned under subheading 9802.00.0050 (see 2004130056).
Some 100 exclusions from the first group of Section 301 tariffs will expire on July 9, after the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative reached a decision not to extend them, USTR said in a notice. The exclusions, found in U.S. Note 20(n) to subchapter III of Chapter 99 of the tariff schedule and entered under subheading 9903.88.11, had been created by USTR in July 2019.
The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated on July 6. The following headquarters rulings were modified recently, according to CBP:
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for June 29-July 2 in case they were missed.