The Senate confirmed Tucson, Arizona, Police Chief Chris Magnus as CBP commissioner on a vote of 50-47 on Dec. 7. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine was the only Republican to vote for him. The agency hasn't had a confirmed leader since 2019.
CBP unfairly denied importer Compressed Air Systems' protest showing that it overpaid duties and fees for its air compressor and vacuum pump part entries, CAS argued in its Dec. 7 complaint at the Court of International Trade. Due to a clerical error committed by the customs broker, the entries were overvalued, CAS said. CBP then refused to fix the error after the importer protested CBP's liquidation of the entries, leading the company to file suit with the trade court (Compressed Air Systems, LLC v. CBP, CIT #21-00615).
The following lawsuits were recently filed at the Court of International Trade:
The Senate confirmed Tucson, Arizona, Police Chief Chris Magnus as CBP commissioner on a vote of 50-47 on Dec. 7. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine was the only Republican to vote for him. The agency hasn't had a confirmed leader since 2019.
The National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America urged its members to share information about where their employees work, and to make calls to their representatives so that a temporary change to bankruptcy law that benefits brokers does not expire at the end of the year. The group "had several calls over the last couple weeks to rally congressional members to support" the Customs Business Fairness Act, Legislative Committee Chair Laurie Arnold said. “The overwhelming comment we receive during these conversations is ‘how many constituents are in my district that this would help?’ It is very difficult for us to give a good answer since we don’t have a complete list from our members.” This year, if an importer declares bankruptcy, the duties that brokers passed through to CBP in the 90 days before the bankruptcy filing are not subject to clawback. But if the provision expires, NCBFAA says, "We are left in the middle holding the bag and potentially on the line to hand over millions of dollars, depending on the size of the importer, to the bankruptcy trustee." The group lobbied for more than 20 years to get this change, "and we now have it," they wrote in an advisory to members. "Don’t let it slip away!"
Argentina recently updated its authorized economic operator program to allow importers, exporters, customs brokers and other trade operators to join the program electronically, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported Dec. 1. The program, which is now in line with World Customs Organization parameters, provides certain traders with benefits during customs procedures, inspections and other port and shipping activities.
House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., said the $800 de minimis threshold amounts to a huge loophole, and he's going to propose major changes to the law. He said that millions of packages a day enter the U.S. under de minimis, and "nobody's monitoring it. We don't know what's forced labor, what has circumvented intellectual property, counterfeit goods, drugs. CBP's getting better, but who can monitor millions of packages a day?"
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from Nov. 22-26 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The Bureau of Industry and Security should clarify that certain hospitals affiliated with entries on the Entity List are not subject to Entity list restrictions, said Tory Tibor, global head of trade compliance for medical device company Olympus. Tibor said the clarification would help address confusion among third parties, including forwarders, about what types of entities are captured by Entity List controls.
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from Nov. 15-19 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.