President Donald Trump issued Presidential Proclamation 9813 on Oct. 30, implementing the final results of the 2017-18 Generalized System of Preferences review and, in the process, making changes to tariff classification provisions for fruit juices. According to the recently issued results of the review, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is denying nearly all requests for waivers, removing nearly all country-product pairs that exceeded import limits from GSP eligibility.
Two U.S. manufacturers on Oct. 26 withdrew their request for Section 201 safeguard duties on bicycles, just one week after the petition was filed (see 1810230048). The document from Bicycle Corporation of America and Detroit Bikes notifying the International Trade Commission of the withdrawal provided no reason for the move, but Kelsey Rule, the attorney representing the companies, said it was “the result of a confidential settlement agreement between private parties.” The ITC had on the previous day sent a letter identifying deficiencies in the petition and requiring that they be corrected by Oct. 31 for the petition to receive consideration. Those omissions included concrete data on injury, including idling of production facilities, declining profitability or unemployment, as well as import data for the past five years. The petition had said import data on the bicycles included under the petition -- those valued under $400 -- was unreliable because many imports are entered under Section 321 and don’t show up in statistics. It also said the injury to U.S. industry had occurred in the mid-1990s when U.S. manufacturers were pushed out by low-priced imports.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Oct. 15-19 in case they were missed.
Two domestic bicycle manufacturers filed a petition Oct. 19 seeking new Section 201 safeguard duties on mass-market bicycles. Detroit Bikes and Bicycle Corporation of America say the dominance of imported mass-market bicycles makes it impossible for U.S. manufacturing to re-establish itself. The companies seek a tariff-rate quota over a period of four years, along with a decrease in the de minimis level for imported bikes and duty-free access for parts used in U.S. bicycle manufacturing operations. The duties would apply to bicycles from all countries, though the International Trade Commission can exempt free trade agreement partners.
PALM SPRINGS, Calif. -- CBP’s revised Form 5106 importer ID requirements are currently getting “final approvals” from the Office of Management and Budget and should be coming “sooner rather than later,” said John Leonard, executive director for CBP Trade Policy and Programs, on Oct. 19. The majority of brokers don’t have to be too worried about the changes, seeing that most compliant brokers are already meeting the revised requirements anyway, Leonard said, speaking at the Western Cargo Conference.
Changes to de minimis is the most significant change from NAFTA in customs administration and trade facilitation under the rewritten agreement, practitioners say, but exactly how that will work in practice is still unknown. Shipments from the U.S. or Canada into Mexico will not face duties if they are valued at less than $117, and will not have to pay tax if they are valued at less than $50. Shipments into Canada from NAFTA partner countries will be tax-free if valued under 40 Canadian dollars, and duty-free at under 150 Canadian. (Mexico's $117 limit matches C$150 at current exchange rates.)
The Trump administration issued its Fall 2018 unified regulatory agenda, advancing its deregulatory program through “structural reforms as well as the practical work of eliminating and revising regulations,” according to the agenda’s introductory statement. The effect can be seen on the individual regulatory agendas of agencies that regulate imports and exports, with many putting out shorter lists that include the elimination of rules and the creation of new regulatory exemptions.
While the changes are likely at least a year away, a KPMG managing director of Trade & Customs Services, Gisele Belotto, told clients that the "changes [to NAFTA] are pretty extensive, and a lot more than changing the name." KPMG held a webcast on understanding the trade implications of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement on Oct. 16. While media coverage has been extensive on the changes to the auto rules of origin, and how that will make it more difficult for Mexican and Canadian autos to enter the U.S. duty-free, KPMG professionals noted that many other products' rules of origin became looser, making it easier to qualify the imports as originating in one of the NAFTA countries.
CBP released the recommended changes to foreign-trade zone regulations that were approved during the Oct. 3 Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee meeting (see 1810040019). Among other things, the COAC recommended that CBP revisit the treatment of Section 321 entries through FTZs.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Oct. 1-5 in case they were missed.