The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's new automated message process for plants, vegetables and fruit imports (see 230707001) will help importers know more quickly if they have submitted a species or subspecies that doesn't exist, and, if accurate data is submitted ahead of arrival, should help cargo get released more quickly.
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.
CBP released a series of frequently asked questions on de minimis as a follow up to a webinar the agency held in April on the subject (see 2304060046). The FAQs cover general information on Section 321, as well as questions on entry type 86 and CBP’s Section 321 data pilot.
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.
Homeland Security Undersecretary Robert Silvers, who chairs the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force that maintains UFLPA's entity list, told the Congressional-Executive Commission on China that FLETF has an "active pipeline of referrals we are examining, and we anticipate more additions in coming months."
The Treasury Department published its spring 2023 regulatory agenda for CBP. There are no mentions of any new trade-related rulemakings, though the agency did move two rules off its agenda to a lower-priority list of planned long-term actions. One of the rules would finalize in the customs regulations the increase of the de minimis level from $200 to $800 under the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015. The other would amend CBP's regulations on disclosure of information regarding merchandise bearing suspected counterfeit trademarks by creating "a procedure for the disclosure of information otherwise protected by the Trade Secrets Act to a trademark owner when merchandise bearing suspected counterfeit trademarks has been voluntarily abandoned."
Sixteen trade groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, PhRMA and BIO, asked U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai to press Mexico to comply with its USMCA commitments during her trip to Mexico for the Free Trade Commission meeting.
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.
Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., recently said CBP needs to do more to know what's inside packages imported under the de minimis threshold, adding that the agency “has no idea what's coming in.”
The ability to import low-value packages without paying duties is a benefit to consumers and businesses, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other trade groups that use de minimis are arguing, as they lobby against bipartisan efforts to curtail de minimis eligibility.