A freight forwarder breached its fiduciary responsibility to pay customs duties and refund overpayments, even though it is not a broker licensed to perform customs business, the Northern Illinois U.S. District Court said in a decision issued Dec. 20. Pactrans did not have a fiduciary duty as a customs broker to Union Pacific to pay $5.8 million in antidumping and countervailing duties, but the power of attorney allowing Pactrans to act as Union Pacific’s agent mentioned duty payment, and the forwarder breached that fiduciary duty as an agent when it kept the money for itself, the court said.
Lawmakers recently introduced the following trade-related bills:
Congress posted the text of the Customs Business Fairness Act. Introduced by New York Reps. Peter King (R) and Gregory Meeks (D) on Dec. 14, H.R. 4657 would provide relief to customs brokers for duties paid on behalf of importers who declare bankruptcy (see 1712180053).
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Dec. 11-15 in case they were missed.
The National Marine Fisheries Service will allow a period of “informed compliance” after compliance with new ACE filing requirements for certain species under the Seafood Import Monitoring Program takes effect Jan. 1, CBP said in a CSMS message. Entries rejected because of missing or incorrect SIMP data that cannot be resolved in a “timely manner” may be refiled under the same entry without the SIMP message set, the agency said. The entries will be released with a warning message as long as all other NMFS filing requirements are met, and the filer will be required to submit the correct SIMP information “as soon as possible.” Entries that are not corrected “in a timely manner” will be “targeted with a full chain of custody audit,” NMFS said.
New York Reps. Peter King (R) and Gregory Meeks (D) on Dec. 14, introduced H.R. 4657, the Customs Business Fairness Act, which would provide relief to customs brokers for duties paid on behalf of importers who declare bankruptcy. The National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America is trying to get co-sponsors for the legislation and has drafted a “Dear Congressman” letter to circulate among House members aimed at galvanizing support for the bill, the NCBFAA said in an email to members. The trade group mentioned its support for such legislation earlier this year (see 1709110033). The King-Meeks bill would recognize when customs brokers provide funds to CBP on behalf of the importer and would spare them from liability for those funds, the NCBFAA said.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published its fall 2017 regulatory agenda for CBP. The agenda includes a first mention of a rulemaking on customs broker regulatory modernization. Among other things, "CBP will propose to update the requirements on responsible supervision and control," it said. The agency is aiming to release a proposal in June. The long-discussed update to customs broker regulations in 19 CFR Part 111 was said to be on hold indefinitely earlier this year due to the deregulatory efforts of the Trump administration (see 1703070009). The proposal is considered to be "deregulatory" by the Office of Management and Budget, something CBP was hoping for (see 1707270022).
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
Customs brokers will be able to file their 2018 triennial reports and pay their broker license fees beginning on Dec. 15, CBP said in a CSMS message. The fees and reports, which must be filed by Feb. 28, may be submitted online via the website Pay.gov. The $100 fee may be paid by credit card, debit card, PayPal or Amazon Pay, with no additional transaction fees. Though the fees may also be paid in person or by mail at the port that originally delivered the license, CBP is actively encouraging brokers to use the electronic payment option, which allows brokers to “save time and submit online,” said Troy Riley, executive director for commercial targeting and enforcement at CBP, at a recent agency conference.
CBP should remove from its regulations a limit of "one shipment per day" for imports under $800, the National Association of Manufacturers said in comments to the agency about rules considered onerous (see 1712120024). That shipment limit goes against "modern business practices where manufacturers may need to import commodities, component[s] or other goods on a 'just in time' basis," NAM said. "Manufacturers recommend that CBP eliminate the one shipment per day provision to be consistent with the" Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act, which raised the dollar value of the de minimis threshold.