The Senate confirmed Kevin McAleenan as commissioner of CBP on March 19 in a 77-19 vote. McAleenan became acting commissioner when the Trump administration began (see 1611090035) and his nomination had been pending since May of 2017. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen congratulated McAleenan in a tweet, while trade groups, including the U.S. Council of International Business, the American Apparel and Footwear Association, the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America and Airlines for America, celebrated the confirmation in news releases. “Imports are essential to the success of the apparel and footwear industry and our ability to employ nearly four million Americans and provide affordable products for American families," AAFA CEO Rick Helfenbein said in an emailed release. "CBP is an invaluable partner to our business, both in terms of supporting lawful trade and preventing the import of counterfeit products." Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., chairman of the Senate Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee, also said he was pleased with the confirmation, in a news release.
Business interests are continuing to sound the alarm that widespread tariffs against China as punishment for intellectual property theft and forced technology transfer are a bad idea (see 1803160009). "The Administration should not respond to unfair Chinese practices and policies by imposing tariffs or other measure that will harm U.S. companies, workers, farmers, ranchers, consumers, and investors," said a letter sent March 18 by 45 business groups to President Donald Trump. The signatories -- which included five regional customs brokers' trade groups and the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America -- were led by tech industry trade groups.
CBP is likely to quickly focus on misclassification and valuation as enforcement issues involving the coming tariffs on steel and aluminum as a result of the politics and revenue involved, said Michael Roll, a lawyer at Pisani & Roll. Roll discussed the new tariffs during a webinar hosted by the Los Angeles Customs Brokers & Freight Forwarders Association of America. "That doesn't mean that they are going to jump out the gate on March 24 hitting people with penalties necessarily," but there will be a focus on "enforcement, enforcement and more enforcement," Roll said.
CBP may face a legal challenge of its decision not to allow accelerated payment on drawback claims filed under the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act until it issues its TFTEA drawback regulations (see 1801260036), said a customs lawyer and a drawback consultant speaking during the International Trade Update conference on March 9 in Washington.
A U.S. cigar distributor may have committed import violations and be liable for more than $3 million in unpaid excise taxes even though it did not act as importer of record on the underlying shipments, the Court of International Trade said in a March 7 decision. Denying Good Times’ motion to dismiss the case, partly because Maverick actually imported the cigars, CIT found that Good Times may have controlled the transaction and fraudulently “introduced” the goods in violation of 19 USC 1592.
More than 100 industry associations called on labor and port leadership at East Coast ports to return to the negotiating table “as soon as possible,” calling a recent “breakdown in negotiations” on a labor contract extension deeply concerning, in a letter dated March 2. A labor contract extension between the International Longshoremen’s Association and the United States Maritime Alliance “will provide supply chain stakeholders with the certainty they need for their operations,” while failure to reach a deal could see newly won business at East and Gulf Coast ports return to the West Coast, “where a long-term contract is in place,” said the letter, signed by the American Association of Exporters and Importers, the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America, the U.S. Fashion Industry Association and the National Retail Federation, among others. “Some industries will begin implementing contingency planning as early as this spring to ensure that cargo is not disrupted during peak shipping season in the fall,” it said. “In the absence of negotiations, those contingency plans will definitely affect business at East and Gulf Coast container terminals.”
The National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America recently called on CBP to address several holes that still remain in ACE. “While CBP has made great strides over the last few years in development of ACE, we are still in need of additional critical development to make ACE functional,” the trade group said in a white paper. An attached “Priority List” lays out the specific needs of the trade community and where CBP is in addressing them. The group raised similar issues in a Feb. 9 letter to Brenda Smith, executive assistant commissioner in the CBP Office of Trade, obtained by International Trade Today
CBP looks set to take a wide open approach to electronic filing of Section 321 entries, with a “range of options” that allow filers to “do whatever works best for their business model,” said Michael Mullen, executive director of the Express Association of America, in an interview. Clearance off manifest would likely continue, using an item descriptor to identify cargo, with electronic filing expanded to other modes. CBP will also likely allow Section 321 entries in the Automated Broker Interface using the 10-digit Harmonized Tariff Schedule number, Mullen said.
CBP will not use accelerated payment for processing claims under the new drawback procedures until the associated regulations become final, Sandler Travis' Michael Cerny, who chairs the Trade Support Network’s drawback working group, said in a blog post. The agency is required to begin accepting drawback claims under the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act as of Feb. 24 and is in the process of issuing associated rules. "Claimants filing for drawback under the more advantageous TFTEA provisions will have to wait months, if not longer, to obtain their refunds," Cerny said.
There were few, if any, early impacts to trade processing over the weekend following the federal government shutdown, trade association leaders said Jan. 22. Geoff Powell, president of C.H. Powell and the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America, said by email he has "not heard of any issues at this time." CBP was scheduled to provide a briefing to industry leaders on Jan. 22 regarding the shutdown while legislators continued efforts to resolve the government funding impasse through a short-term continuing resolution. Congress is expected to pass a funding bill that would end the shutdown on Jan. 22.