CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
Braumiller Law Group attorneys told webinar listeners April 20 that outside of the automotive sector, the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement has more liberal rules of origin than NAFTA. Jim Holbein said that the decision on whether a product qualifies based on tariff shift is a “much simpler rule to apply. I believe that’ll be useful, particularly if your process for obtaining origin is based all on NAFTA.” He gave the example of a flat-screen TV assembled in Mexico, which currently has content percentage rules. Under USMCA, if the manufacturing process qualifies as substantial transformation, that's enough to count as Mexican.
CBP posted interim implementation instructions for the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement to provide "guidance with respect to preferential tariff claims under the USMCA," it said. The document covers many of the USMCA provisions, including making preference claims, rules of origin for automotive goods and country of origin marking rules. "The procedures outlined in this memorandum are in place pending the issuance of the applicable regulations," CBP said.
Interim implementation instructions for the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement posted April 20 by CBP provide the technical language needed for companies to develop internal processes as they prepare for the revised NAFTA to take effect, but it will be tough for importers to meet the new guidelines in time, particularly given the disruptions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, trade lawyer and NAFTA specialist Dan Ujczo said following release of the document.
As a date of entry into force, June 1 “is too aggressive and unrealistic,” said The American Association of Exporters and Importers in a letter sent April 15 to the U.S. trade representative. The organization did not say what day would be late enough for traders, who are affected by the COVID-19 public health emergency. “Many companies have personnel working from home due to COVID-19, which will make responses to queries for data slower, thereby causing delays in the certification process for USMCA,” they said. But they noted that without final regulations, “it is impossible for companies to know if there will be an impact or if supply chains may need to be shifted.” Once the regulations are in place, AAEI said, it will take time to solicit documents from suppliers. The group asked that NAFTA certificates of origin for 2020 continue to be valid during a period of informed compliance until Jan. 1, 2021.
CBP posted multiple documents ahead of the April 15 Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) meeting:
CBP, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement partners “should delay USMCA’s entry into force until no earlier than January 1, 2021,” the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) said in a recommendation during its April 15 meeting. “Now is not the time to implement a trade agreement that contains so many important and meaningful changes that will impact certain industries in a significant financial manner,” it said. “The trade simply is not, and will not be, ready to shift from NAFTA to USMCA on June 1, 2020.”
CBP has drafted some interim implementing instructions for the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement that could be released as soon as April 17, a CBP official said during an April 16 conference call. The draft is being circulated within the government and is planned to eventually go up on CBP's website, she said. The instructions will detail how to file an entry, and the Special Program Indicator code will be S, she said. There's also some discussion about an S+ code for agricultural goods with special requirements, similar to the CAFTA-DR codes, she said. A CSMS message would announce the release of the instructions, she said.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for April 6-10 in case they were missed.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who last week said that U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer is not sympathetic to auto industry complaints about U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement implementation, said that after talking to Lighthizer again, he has a different view. Lawmakers recently asked the USTR to delay the USMCA rules of origin requirements (see 2004130035).