The Census Bureau (Census) has issued an Automated Export System (AES) Broadcast that explains how a used vehicle should be filed if the required vehicle information is not accepted in AES (i.e., response code 596).
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued its weekly quota commodity report as of June 21, 2004. This report includes tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) on various products such as beef, tuna, sugar, dairy products, peanuts, cotton, cocoa powder, tobacco, certain JFTA, NAFTA, SFTA, and UCFTA TRQs, etc. This report also includes the AGOA, ATPDEA, CBTPA, NAFTA, SFTA, and UCFTA tariff preference levels (TPLs) for qualifying apparel and/or other textile articles, the TRQs on worsted wool fabrics under HTS 9902.51.11 & 9902.51.12, etc. (CBP's weekly quota commodity report dated 06/21/04, available at http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/import/textiles_and_quotas/commodity/)
The Departmental Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (COAC) held a quarterly meeting on June 18, 2004 in Washington, DC to discuss and receive updates from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials on various trade and customs issues.
Certain Certs breath mints are not preparations for oral or dental hygiene. In Warner-Lambert Company v. U.S., the Court of International Trade (CIT) ruled in favor of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) that certain Certs Powerful Mints are properly classified under HTS 2106.90.99 (6.4%), which provides for food preparations not elsewhere specified or included.
On May 27, 2004, the U.S. and Bahrain completed a comprehensive free trade agreement (FTA) under which the U.S. and Bahrain will provide immediate duty-free access on virtually all of the products in their tariff schedules and will phase out tariffs on the remaining handful of products within 10 years.
In the June 16, 2004 issue of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Bulletin (CBPBulletin) (Vol. 38, No. 25), CBP issued notices: (a) proposing to revoke treatment regarding Durapore filtering material on rolls, and (b) proposing to revoke three classification rulings regarding moisture meters. CBP states that it is also proposing to revoke any treatment it has previously accorded to substantially identical transactions that are contrary to its position in these notices.
According to sources at the International Trade Commission (ITC) and Presidential Proclamation 6763, the last column 1 "general" staged duty rate reductions for all but six of the tariff numbers subject to the Uruguay Round took effect on January 1, 2004.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has posted to its Web site its "critical list" of textiles and apparel subject to import quotas with entered quantities 85% or more filled as of June 14, 2004. CBP states that this "critical list" may be used by CBP as a reference for releasing quota merchandise "off line" when the Automated Commercial System (ACS) is down for longer than four hours. CBP notes that textile and apparel merchandise for Electronic Visa Information System (ELVIS) countries cannot be released "off line" until it is processed through quota. CBP further notes that if the system is down for more than 24 hours, Headquarters Quota Branch should be contacted for further instructions. CBP also states that merchandise subject to tariff-rate quotas (TRQs), which are filled, may be released if entered under the "over quota" (high) rate of duty. (CBP's critical list, dated 06/14/04, http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/import/textiles_and_quotas/textile_critical_list/)
In the June 9, 2004 issue of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Bulletin (CBPBulletin) (Vol. 38, No. 24), CBP issued notices (a) modifying a ruling regarding the country of origin marking for imported auto parts that are repackaged in the U.S. for retail sale, (b) modifying two classification rulings on certain multiple switches, and (c) revoking a classification ruling on certain laryngectomy covers. CBP states that it is also modifying or revoking any treatment it has previously accorded to substantially identical transactions that are contrary to its position in notices (a) and (c).
On June 14, 2004, the House of Representatives approved, by voice vote, H.R. 4103, the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Acceleration Act of 2004. (This bill is