CBP cut back its planned continuing education requirements to 36 hours every three years after previously suggesting 40 hours over the same period (see 2010270038), it said in notice. "Requiring more than 36 hours of continuing broker education per triennial period could be burdensome for the customs broker community (especially individual brokers operating as or working for small businesses) and a lower requirement would be insufficient to ensure that individual brokers keep abreast of changes in customs and related laws," it said. An agency official said in May that the change was likely (see 2105040004).
Industry backed an Alarm Industry Communications Committee request to delay AT&T's Feb. 22 3G data termination sunset, in comments posted Tuesday in FCC docket 21-304 (see 2108200021). AICC "clearly demonstrated the harmful impact" of the planned sunset, said the Alliance for Automotive Innovation. The auto industry "has been constrained in its ability to address or mitigate the impact of the 3G sunset," the group said, adding that it supported AICC's proposed Dec. 31, 2022, deadline. The Alcohol Monitoring Systems and AARP backed a 10-month extension. A "global semiconductor chip shortage" has affected the electronic monitoring industry's 4G transition, AMS said. AARP cited "clear linkages" between the COVID-19 pandemic and "the ability of AICC members to successfully complete the 3G transition." An "abrupt, premature, or disorganized shut-down of this key element of wireless connectivity threatens millions of people that rely on 3G," said Public Knowledge, Access Humboldt, the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, Center for Rural Strategies and New America's Open Technology Institute. The FCC is "well-positioned to serve as an honest broker that can collect and protect information necessary to make an objective evaluation of the obstacles facing the transition," they said. AT&T disagreed, saying alarm companies are "fully capable of replacing 3G radios" used by customers. The chip shortage "has not kept the major alarm companies from ... winning and activating new customers," it said. A delay would "undercut AT&T’s 5G rollout and overall network performance," it said. AT&T will respond to others' comments in replies due Sept. 14, said a spokesperson.
Industry backed an Alarm Industry Communications Committee request to delay AT&T's Feb. 22 3G data termination sunset, in comments posted Tuesday in FCC docket 21-304 (see 2108200021). AICC "clearly demonstrated the harmful impact" of the planned sunset, said the Alliance for Automotive Innovation. The auto industry "has been constrained in its ability to address or mitigate the impact of the 3G sunset," the group said, adding that it supported AICC's proposed Dec. 31, 2022, deadline. The Alcohol Monitoring Systems and AARP backed a 10-month extension. A "global semiconductor chip shortage" has affected the electronic monitoring industry's 4G transition, AMS said. AARP cited "clear linkages" between the COVID-19 pandemic and "the ability of AICC members to successfully complete the 3G transition." An "abrupt, premature, or disorganized shut-down of this key element of wireless connectivity threatens millions of people that rely on 3G," said Public Knowledge, Access Humboldt, the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, Center for Rural Strategies and New America's Open Technology Institute. The FCC is "well-positioned to serve as an honest broker that can collect and protect information necessary to make an objective evaluation of the obstacles facing the transition," they said. AT&T disagreed, saying alarm companies are "fully capable of replacing 3G radios" used by customers. The chip shortage "has not kept the major alarm companies from ... winning and activating new customers," it said. A delay would "undercut AT&T’s 5G rollout and overall network performance," it said. AT&T will respond to others' comments in replies due Sept. 14, said a spokesperson.
Registration for the Oct. 21 customs broker license exam is open until Sept. 21, CBP said in a CSMS message. The agency is “offering both a remote proctored and in-person Customs Broker License Exam (CBLE) delivery option,” it said.
CBP provided some more detail on the requirements of importers and brokers for duty-free claims under subheading 9801.00.10, in a recent CSMS message. The update revises a guidance issued by CBP in 2017 on legislative changes that allowed for duty-free treatment of products of the U.S. returned within any time frame after having been exported, or products of other countries returned within three years after having been exported, and not advanced in value or improved in condition (see 1702010047). CBP said it plans to propose regulatory changes to "align" the regulations with the law.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
Customs Inefficiencies, Need for Mexico-Asia Supply Chains Limit Nearshoring's Appeal, Panelists Say
Representatives from manufacturing interests operating in Mexico said the COVID-19 pandemic has presented an opportunity to argue for locating more production in North America, for both reliability and speed, but there are still obstacles to making the argument for nearshoring as an answer to vulnerable supply chains. The president of the National Council of the Maquiladora and Export Manufacturing Industry and the director of global trade compliance for Illinois-headquartered manufacturer Regal Beloit spoke at the Wilson Center's "Building a Competitive U.S.-Mexico Border" conference, which was held Aug. 10 and 11.
Customs Inefficiencies, Need for Mexico-Asia Supply Chains Limit Nearshoring's Appeal, Panelists Say
Representatives from manufacturing interests operating in Mexico said the COVID-19 pandemic has presented an opportunity to argue for locating more production in North America, for both reliability and speed, but there are still obstacles to making the argument for nearshoring as an answer to vulnerable supply chains. The president of the National Council of the Maquiladora and Export Manufacturing Industry and the director of global trade compliance for Illinois-headquartered manufacturer Regal Beloit spoke at the Wilson Center's "Building a Competitive U.S.-Mexico Border" conference, which was held Aug. 10 and 11.
CBP's plans to extend the Part 102 marking rules from NAFTA to USMCA determinations of country of origin for nonpreferential claims and procurement under USMCA (see 2107010045) lacks the legal justifications needed to finalize the proposal, Novolex Holdings, a packaging conglomerate owned by the Carlyle Group, said in comments to the agency. "As proposed, such origin determinations would no longer abide by the precedent developed in over a century of determinations by the federal courts," the company said. The comments were posted Aug. 11 in the docket.
The National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America is asking its members to lobby their representatives to ask for a permanent fix to bankruptcy law that used to require brokers to return money that they had forwarded to CBP on behalf of clients if those clients declared bankruptcy within 90 days of those payments. There is a temporary fix to this clawback issue, but it will expire on Dec. 27 if a law with a permanent fix is not passed before then. The NCBFAA says, "Every day we hear in the news of companies filing bankruptcy due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and many of those companies are importers."