As CBP ramps up enforcement and seeks to ensure that importers' claims of first sale are valid, expect the agency to pay close attention to the documents of the middleman, said tax consultants with KPMG during an Oct. 27 presentation on first sale at the International Compliance Professionals Association's annual conference in Texas.
CBP erroneously found that importer Superon Schweisstechnik's stainless steel round wires aren't coated in a "flux material" and thus misclassified three types of the wires, Superon argued in an Oct. 30 complaint filed at the Court of International Trade. The importer faulted CBP for using the "conventional test methods" on the wires' coating, "rather than the globally recognized specialized methods necessary for identifying" the type of coating on the wires (Superon Schweisstechnik India v. United States, CIT # 21-00570).
CBP released guidance on Section 232 import duties for medium- and heavy-duty trucks, medium- and heavy-duty truck parts, and buses via an Oct. 29 cargo systems message.
As companies navigate the increasingly complex U.S. trade landscape, companies should "shift left" and adjust their trade compliance strategies so that potential compliance issues are caught upstream in areas such as sales, procurement and development before hitting the duty filing stage, a software developer said at the International Compliance Professionals Association conference in Grapevine, Texas, on Oct. 27.
South Korea's government said it has agreed to the details of a trade deal that lowers tariffs on goods outside the Section 232 actions to 15%, all-inclusive, and applies that rate to autos manufactured in Korea, too.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the weeks of Oct. 13-19 and 20-26:
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
More Republicans will vote to roll back fentanyl tariffs on Canada, lead sponsor Sen. Tim Kaine predicted the evening of Oct. 28, ahead of a vote on the Brazil emergency underpinning additional 40% tariffs on the majority of Brazilian exports.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said there's no hang-up preventing the South Korean trade framework from moving to a signed deal, "just a lot of details to work out. It's a very complicated deal, and I think we're very close." However, he told reporters on Air Force One on Oct. 27 that he didn't think it would be done by Oct. 29, when the president lands in Korea.
President Donald Trump signed trade deals with Cambodia and Malaysia, leaving 19% tariffs on both Cambodian and Malaysian goods, with some carve-outs for tropical fruits and woods, minerals, and some goods covered by pending Section 232 investigations, such as aviation parts and chemicals used to make pharmaceuticals. The 19% tariffs layer on top of most-favored nation rates, which, in the case of apparel and shoes that dominate Cambodia's top exports, are already quite high.