The question of how de minimis should fit within the new NAFTA is being grappled with in Congress (see 1902280005) and partner countries (see 1903080033), panelists said March 8 during the International Trade Update at the Georgetown University law school. There was significant pushback from Canada over increasing the value threshold, mostly due to the country's value-added taxes rather than the customs duty collections, said Christine McDaniel, senior research fellow at George Mason University's Mercatus Center.
The Canadian Minister-Counselor for Trade said negotiators on the new NAFTA solved the roster problem in the old Chapter 20 of NAFTA, which was that any country could block the appointment of panelists in a dispute (see 1807230029). "That particular issue is a dramatic improvement from NAFTA 1 and NAFTA 2," Colin Bird said March 8 during an International Trade Update conference hosted by Georgetown's law school. President Donald Trump said on March 8 about the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement that "we’ll be submitting [it] to Congress very shortly," and said the deal is "a great deal for the United States."
It's not clear yet whether the United Kingdom will be leaving the European Union customs union, but nonetheless, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative released its negotiating objectives late Feb. 28. Many are similar to what was achieved in the NAFTA rewrite.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and ranking member Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., have said in a letter to the U.S. trade representative that lowering de minimis in the implementing legislation for the new NAFTA is unwelcome. "We strongly oppose any change to existing law that would authorize the Administration to lower the current U.S. de minimis threshold to make it reciprocal with its trading partners," they wrote Feb. 27. "While we are deeply disappointed that both Canada and Mexico were unwilling to raise their de minimis thresholds for express shipments to match the U.S. $800 de minimis level, lowering the U.S. threshold in response is contrary to well-demonstrated Congressional intent."
The American Association of Exporters and Importers is working on proposed legislation that is meant to improve and allow for a more modern customs process, the group said in comments on CBP's request for input on creating a new customs framework (see 1812200003). The proposal, which the AAEI refers to as "Mod Act 2," has been under development for more than a year. The legislation "seeks to take the process of accounting for imported goods and the collection of Customs duties thereon in a new and more modern direction," the trade group said.
Seven years after the U.S. imposed antidumping and countervailing duties on South Korean large residential washers, the World Trade Organization has given South Korea the go-ahead to retaliate on American exports up to $84.81 million, just over a tenth of what the country had sought.
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum won't happen until November, but a panel of a State Department envoy, a former Office of the U.S. Trade Representative negotiator, Singapore's ambassador and Google's head of global trade policy talked about what might be accomplished there during a Feb. 5 panel.
Customs brokers should remain a key part of the global supply chain as CBP shifts to better operate in the modern trade environment, providing a “multiplier effect” to the agency’s education and data integrity efforts, the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America said in comments to CBP dated Feb. 4. As e-commerce causes the number of importers to explode and the associated risks to increase accordingly, brokers should be considered “trusted partners, delivering the agency from the chaos of dealing with hundreds of thousands of importers,” the NCBFAA said.
The Internet Association criticized the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative for seeking to raise de minimis levels on shipments from its neighbors as part of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (see 1901300009). "A consistent, high de minimis threshold benefits the entire American e-commerce system, including thousands of small businesses that use the internet to export and import," the group said in a statement Jan. 30. "USTR’s proposed provision in the implementing legislation would force small businesses to navigate a complicated, confusing net of customs rules.” Businesses have complained that even the concessions won in the text of the new NAFTA are complicated and confusing, because Mexico and Canada have different de minimis levels for sales taxes and for customs duties.
In order for importers to be able to create certificates of origin under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, U.S. law will have to change. That's one of dozens of changes to statutes that will need to happen to accommodate the changes between NAFTA and USMCA. The U.S. trade representative shared the six-page outline of the needed changes with Congress late on Jan. 29, fulfilling one of the steps under fast-track consideration of the trade pact. The document suggests that USTR is still seeking a lowering of U.S. de minimis levels specifically for Canada and Mexico (see 1810190043), since those countries did not raise their de minimis levels as much as the U.S. negotiators wished.