Encapsulated fish oil powder doesn't meet the CBP requirements for classification in Chapter 15 as an animal or vegetable fat or oil, the agency said in a June 18 ruling. The ruling came at the request of Socius Ingredients, which asked CBP to rule on the classification of the product. The capsules are imported in bulk and sold to food and supplement companies, it said.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is on track to open up its ACE filing pilot to all filers on July 6, with an eye to issuing a final rule making use of the FWS partner government agency (PGA) message set mandatory at the end of the year, FWS senior wildlife inspector Rhyan Tompkins said on a June 22 webinar hosted by the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of June 15-21:
The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated on June 22. The following headquarters rulings were modified recently, according to CBP:
CBP added June 18 the ability in ACE for importers to file entries with recently excluded goods in the fourth tranche of Section 301 tariffs, it said in a CSMS message. The official Office of the U.S. Trade Representative notice for the exclusions was published June 12 (see 2006090003). The exclusions are in subheading 9903.88.49. The exclusions are available for any product that meets the description in the Annex to USTR’s notice, regardless of whether the importer filed an exclusion request. The product exclusions apply retroactively to Sept. 1, 2019, the date the tariffs on the fourth list took effect, and remain in effect until Sept. 1, 2020. The CSMS message also includes a summary of Section 301 duties that shows information on each tranche of tariffs and granted product exclusions.
Correction: The new Section 301 tariff exclusion for motorboats will fall under previously created subheading 9903.88.48 (see 2006190034).
Of the 52,746 exclusion requests related to Section 301 tariffs, 75.4% have been denied, and 12.3% are still under review, a new Congressional Research Service report says. Because most exclusions are for specific products, and don't cover an entire Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading number, it's not possible to know how much trade is covered by the exclusions, CRS said. The report noted that some Congress members complain about the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative picking winners and losers, while others feel any exclusion undermines the ability of Section 301 to address China's unfair trade practices.
CBP issued an updated ACE deployment schedule that includes several additions related to the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. A USMCA tariff schedule database and other updates will be deployed July 1, the date the deal enters into force, CBP said in the change log. In August, CBP will deploy reconciliation changes to prevent merchandise processing fee refunds. That deployment is likely necessary because the USMCA legislation didn't specifically allow for MPF refunds. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is working with Congress for a legislative fix, though CBP recommends delaying reconciliation filings if possible until the MPF issue is figured out (see 2006160046).
The Commerce Department issued notices in the Federal Register on its recently initiated antidumping duty investigations on walk-behind lawn mowers from China and Vietnam (A-570-129, A-552-830), and its countervailing duty investigation on the same product from China (C-570-130). The CV duty investigation covers entries Jan. 1, 2019, through Dec. 31, 2019. The AD duty investigations cover entries Oct. 1, 2019, through March 31, 2020.
Generally, an entry is liquidated after 314 days, but Geodis customs brokers told an audience of fashion industry professionals that there have been cases in which liquidation came early, and there was not enough time left to do a protest in order to get a refund after an exclusion was granted. The brokers spoke during a webinar hosted by the U.S. Fashion Industry Association.