RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. -- CBP is considering offering trusted trader benefits to those in the e-commerce world as a way to improve compliance, said John Leonard, executive director-trade policy and programs at CBP, during a May 2 panel discussion at the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America's annual conference. The hope is to "incentivize all these new actors in this space to improve the platforms and marketplaces, etc., to be more compliant," he said. "Part of that could involve the Trusted Trader program" and the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism program, he said. CBP "is looking at this very closely."
The U.S. will return some 3,800 artifacts to Iraq that were illegally imported by Hobby Lobby, the Justice Department said in a news release. The company reached a $3 million settlement with the DOJ last year over the smuggled goods that also required Hobby Lobby to employ a customs lawyer and a customs broker (see 1707060033).
RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. -- The elimination of drawback availability on entries subject to Section 232 tariffs in most the recent presidential proclamations (see 1804300064) applies retroactively to the March 23 effective date of the tariffs, said John Leonard, executive director-trade policy and programs at CBP, during a May 2 interview at the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America's annual conference. The new language about drawback raised some questions about how it was applied (see 1805010027). The drawback issue had "been an open question" and something "we needed direction on," he said. Between the first proclamation and the most recent proclamation, "CBP pointedly made sure we tried to get as many technical questions as possible answered," Leonard said. "We expect our quota module to be ready pretty soon to be able to handle absolute quotas, which we haven't for many years."
RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. -- Both the government and customs brokers will need to keep agile in light of the fast-moving changes in the world of international trade, said Brenda Smith, executive assistant commissioner-trade at CBP. "The relationship between the government and private sector is very much facilitated by the role of the customs broker," Smith said during a May 2 interview at that National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America's annual conference. "I believe those that do international trade are helped by the knowledge and expertise of customs brokers. I think very often there is a financial function that customs brokers can also perform for the private sector. For CBP, I think, they help educate around requirements and we believe that's a very valuable function."
Amy Magnus has been named president of the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America, said A.N. Deringer, where Magnus is director-customs affairs and compliance, in an emailed news release. Magnus, most recently vice president of the NCBFAA, succeeds Geoff Powell in the role.
RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. -- Customs brokers should be prepared for an increased number of audit surveys, said Tom Jesukiewicz, CBP field director, regulatory audit, in the Long Beach Field Office, while speaking at the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America's annual conference May 1. "There will be a lot more broker surveys this year, I can guarantee you that." Audit surveys aren't actual surveys but are questionnaires that allow CBP to probe business processes related to potential problems. CBP has "ranked" all the customs brokers, and uses that ranking when deciding who to survey, Jesukiewicz said. "The survey is not random, unlike sampling," he said. "Somebody has an issue or pointed something out" and the survey is used to find whether the "supposition is even in the ballpark," he said. If it's pretty clear there's a problem, CBP will do an audit, whereas the audit surveys are used to tell the recipient "you're in an area that's a potential risk" and that "someone flagged you for this." Based on that "walk-through of transactions and the information that we get, we may or may not open an audit," he said.
RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. -- Customs brokers should be prepared for an increased number of audit surveys, said Tom Jesukiewicz, CBP field director, regulatory audit, in the Long Beach Field Office, while speaking at the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America's annual conference May 1. "There will be a lot more broker surveys this year, I can guarantee you that." Audit surveys aren't actual surveys but are questionnaires that allow CBP to probe business processes related to potential problems. CBP has "ranked" all the customs brokers, and uses that ranking when deciding who to survey, Jesukiewicz said. "The survey is not random, unlike sampling," he said. "Somebody has an issue or pointed something out" and the survey is used to find whether the "supposition is even in the ballpark," he said. If it's pretty clear there's a problem, CBP will do an audit, whereas the audit surveys are used to tell the recipient "you're in an area that's a potential risk" and that "someone flagged you for this." Based on that "walk-through of transactions and the information that we get, we may or may not open an audit," he said.
RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. -- The Census Bureau expects to issue proposed rules for routed export transactions by the fall, said Omari Wooden, assistant division chief, International Trade Management Division at Census. Census is in the process of going through many issues raised by industry in comments to the agency (see 1712070039), Wooden said at the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America's annual conference on May 1. "We are the government, so instead of months, we give you seasons, so probably sometime in the fall we're hopeful to come out with something," he said.
RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. -- The Census Bureau expects to issue proposed rules for routed export transactions by the fall, said Omari Wooden, assistant division chief, International Trade Management Division at Census. Census is in the process of going through many issues raised by industry in comments to the agency, Wooden said at the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America's annual conference on May 1. "We are the government, so instead of months, we give you seasons, so probably sometime in the fall we're hopeful to come out with something," he said.
Extended exemptions from Section 232 tariffs on aluminum and steel left some countries and importers relieved, but others uncertain as to what is around the corner on June 1. Announced the evening of April 30 just hours before the deadline, the proclamations on steel and aluminum announce full, if undefined, exemptions for Argentina, Brazil and Australia, the final details of a steel exemption for South Korea, and a delay until the beginning of June 1 for Canada, Mexico and the European Union.