The National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America in a Nov. 6 letter to the Senate Finance and House Ways and Means committees urged renewal of the Generalized System of Preferences prior to its Dec. 31 expiration, saying previous expirations of GSP caused significant economic damage and disruption. “There is longstanding, bipartisan consensus that GSP is a valuable program that should be extended,” NCBFAA wrote. “Congress knows that GSP helps lower the costs of raw materials or component parts for U.S. manufacturers, an important factor in keeping U.S. companies competitive in foreign markets and lowering the cost of finished products to U.S. consumers. Importantly, GSP only applies to products where there is no U.S. production.”
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Oct. 30-Nov. 3 in case they were missed.
CBP will likely adopt a hybrid “dual calculation system” for drawback in ACE, with substitution drawback calculated using line item per unit average and invoice level calculations for direct identification drawback, the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America said in an emailed update on Nov. 6. The decision will have “significant implications,” because line items previously claimed using substitution drawback would be ineligible for direct identification drawback, and vice versa, the trade group said. CBP is also considering making all merchandise imported in any entry claimed in a drawback claim under the existing law unavailable for substitution drawback claims under the new procedures of the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015, it said.
The Federal Maritime Commission will meet on Nov. 8 at 10 a.m. to discuss the Supply Chain Innovation Teams and the review process for the Carrier and Marine Terminal Operator Agreement, the agency said. The FMC will also consider "commission action" on a National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America petition involving negotiated rate arrangements, it said. The NCBFAA filed the petition in 2015 (see 1504290019) and the FMC issued a related final rule earlier this year (see 1704030022).
The Federal Communications Commission will end its Form 740 filing requirements for imported radiofrequency devices as of Nov. 2, the agency said in a notice. While the Form 740 will no longer be required, the agency will continue to require compliance with rules for importing RF devices, it said. The FCC "retained the requirement that there must be an entity that assumes responsibility for the compliance of the device and modified the rules to ensure the existence and identity (and a domestic presence under the new [Supplier’s Declaration of Conformity (SDoC)] rules), of such a responsible party." The FCC approved the changes in July (see 1707130045).
CBP will increase Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) fees by 2.677 percent to adjust for inflation in fiscal year 2018, the agency said in a notice. Affected fees include the merchandise processing fee, vessel and truck arrival fees and the customs broker permit user fee. The Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act, passed in 2015, required that CBP make inflation adjustments and fee limitations when deemed necessary (see 1512040024).
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Oct. 23-27 in case they were missed.
UPS is working for the insertion of new NAFTA language providing for trilateral cargo preclearance, streamlined truck transportation between the U.S. and Mexico, and increased customs information submission requirements for Canadian and Mexican state-owned parcel services, UPS Senior Vice President for International Public Affairs and Strategy Amgad Shehata said Oct. 26. During a Cato Institute NAFTA event, Shehata called for a broad move away from paper-based customs procedures, noting that NAFTA parties are all single-window countries equipped for greater customs digitization.
The Court of International Trade's Rules Advisory Committee is considering a "format" for transmitting business proprietary information from CBP to CIT related to Enforce and Protect Act (EAPA) investigations, said Justin Miller, Justice Department senior trial counsel, during a panel discussion at an Oct. 27 Case Western Reserve University Law School event on enforcement of customs laws. "Some of the items they've discussed is something similar to what we would see in an AD/CV proceeding," Miller said. There's been some concern about the treatment of confidential information within an EAPA proceeding (see 1703100012).
CBP posted a trade enforcement bulletin for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2017, which mentions a new training pilot program on trade fraud. The Office of Trade’s Trade Remedy Law Enforcement Directorate Civil Enforcement Division developed the course and offered it to the Agriculture and Prepared Products Center of Excellence and Expertise in Miami, CBP said. "The three-day course included: roundtable discussions with Associate Chief Counsel, the Department of Justice, and [ICE Homeland Security Investigations]; overviews of the various enforcement tools with the National Targeting and Analysis Group; and team collaboration on current enforcement actions," the agency said. The course is part of CBP's response to a March executive order on antidumping and countervailing duty collections (see 1704030033).