The Treasury Department, the State Department and the Coast Guard issued a May 14 guidance on illegal shipping and sanctions evasion practices by Iran, North Korea and Syria. The guidance aims to help traders in the maritime industry -- including the energy and metal sectors -- avoid doing business with customers trying to avoid U.S. sanctions. The 35-page guidance updates previous shipping advisories, including a guidance on illegal North Korean ship-to-ship transfers (see 1903210052).
Many details needed for the uniform regulations and the final implementing instructions for the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement remain under discussion, agency officials said on May 14. Many specifics have not been agreed to, either between Mexico, Canada and the U.S., between the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the auto industry, or between CBP and USTR. “There's still even discussions with USTR and the [auto] industry on what constitutes a core part,” Maya Kumar, director for textiles and trade agreements, told members of the trade community on a conference call.
The following customs brokers' licenses and all associated permits are revoked without prejudice for failure to file a triennial status report, CBP said in a notice.
Another customs broker agreed to strict power of attorney verification requirements to settle a trademark infringement lawsuit brought by Nike. Under the terms of the settlement, B&H Customs Brokers will have to visit its importer clients to verify their identities, or otherwise review the government-issued identification of the employee of the importer that signed the power of attorney. B&H did not admit its guilt as part of the settlement.
CBP is using a new center focused on implementation of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement to help with the process, the agency said in a May 11 news release. “Staffed with CBP experts from operational, legal, and audit disciplines, as well as with virtual representatives from Canadian and Mexican customs authorities, the USMCA Center is a cornerstone of CBP’s USMCA implementation plan and will serve as a central communication hub for CBP and the private sector community, including traders, brokers, freight forwarders and producers, ensuring a smooth and efficient transition from the North American Free Trade Agreement to USMCA,” it said.
CBP is using a new center focused on implementation of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement to help with the process, the agency said in a May 11 news release. “Staffed with CBP experts from operational, legal, and audit disciplines, as well as with virtual representatives from Canadian and Mexican customs authorities, the USMCA Center is a cornerstone of CBP’s USMCA implementation plan and will serve as a central communication hub for CBP and the private sector community, including traders, brokers, freight forwarders and producers, ensuring a smooth and efficient transition from the North American Free Trade Agreement to USMCA,” it said.
The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated on May 6. The following headquarters rulings not involving carriers were modified on May 6, according to CBP:
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, when asked about a legislative proposal that would prevent tariff payments to customs brokers from being clawed back in bankruptcy, said, “I’ve never given it any thought.” Grassley, who was speaking on a phone call with reporters May 5, didn't know that customs brokers face this problem when a client declares bankruptcy and the broker serves as a pass-through agent for tariffs. “It seems to me that in most bankruptcies the government’s first in line to recapture what the government is owed,” he said. The National Customs Brokers& Forwarders Association of America has been trying to get the proposal to be included in the next round of COVID-19 relief (see 2003200030), and International Trade Today asked Grassley whether he would support its inclusion.
The National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America said that CBP told members of the trade community that very little of the personal protective equipment subject to export oversight is being slowed on its way out of the country. The CBP official said that out of 1,000 shipments, it is reviewing 100 and holding 10.
Duplicates of customs broker records may be stored on servers outside the U.S. as long as the originals are stored on U.S. servers, Customs and Border Protection said. The March 10 ruling was disclosed by a stakeholder last week and confirmed to us by the recipient. The ruling requested by Craig Seelig at WiseTech Global examined WiseTech's use of a foreign server in Australia as a secondary site. The primary site would be in the U.S. CBP requires that for broker records stored on a server, the server must be located in the customs territory of the U.S., the agency replied. “This is where CBP has jurisdiction to issue a summons and inspect records.” There’s “no rule applicable to duplicate records,” the agency said. “It seems logical then that once the recordkeeping regulations are met, including 19 C.F.R. § 111.23(a), requiring that records be retained at any location within the customs territory of the United States, that duplicates of these records may be maintained outside the territory of the United States." Grunfeld Desiderio lawyer Alan Klestadt, who told a webinar of the ruling, said that, with a coming update to customs broker regulations, more cloud-based recordkeeping could come to be OK’d.