CBP is preparing a ruling on whether electronic signatures may be used for issuing an import power-of-attorney, said Emily Simon, chief of the agency's Trade and Commercial Regulations Branch. The Entry Process and Duty Refunds Branch, as well as the Broker Management Branch, are reviewing the matter, she told a March 3 Airforwarders Association virtual event. “My understanding is that we have a ruling being developed right now to address the use of an electronic signature under certain circumstances, but not necessarily all of them in that one particular ruling,” she said. Simon said she couldn't go into more detail because it falls outside her role at CBP.
CBP is investigating possible antidumping and countervailing duty evasion by 15 separate quartz surface products importers, the agency said in a notice posted March 4. The allegations of evasion under the Enforce and Protect Act came the Cambria Company and its lawyer at Schagrin Associates, and CBP consolidated the cases together. The importers were said to have used transshipment through Malaysia to avoid the AD/CV duties on the quartz surface products from China. Even among consolidated EAPA investigations, it's unusual for so many importers to be named.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories for Feb. 22-26 in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching on the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from Feb. 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 issuance of CBP withhold release orders is not always seen as helpful in other parts of the federal government, the Government Accountability Office said in a report released on March 1. The full report includes some criticism from within the government as being too heavy-handed at times. “For example, although State [Department] officials considered WROs to be helpful in raising awareness of forced labor issues, State officials also said that the issuance of WROs can be a 'sledgehammer-type' approach that may make it more difficult for other agencies, such as State and [the Department of Labor], to implement more collaborative or remediation-focused approaches to eliminate and prevent forced labor,” it said.
Mesh Wi-Fi network extenders perform a different function than routers or switches and should be classified in a separate subheading, CBP said in a recently released ruling dated Dec. 18, 2020. The ruling is the result of an application for further review of protest submitted by Calix over an entry of mesh network extenders, which was liquidated in subheading 8517.62.0020. The classification issue is “whether or not the protested merchandise is 'switching and routing apparatus' of subheading 8517.62.0020, [Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUSA)], or 'other' of subheading 8517.62.0090,” CBP said.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories for Feb. 16-19 in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching on the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from Feb. 16-19 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The processing operations in China on frozen roasted eel from the U.S. or Europe are close enough to filleting to result in a substantial transformation, CBP said in a Dec. 16 ruling. Law firm Grunfeld Desiderio asked CBP on behalf of American Eel Depot for a further review of protest after multiple entries of the eels were entered as products of China and subject to Section 301 duties. The company argued that the eels should instead be of U.S. or European origin.
The country of origin for pipe clamps and bar clamps depends on where the clamp heads that hold things in place are made, CBP said in a Sept. 11, 2020, ruling. The recently released ruling was requested by a lawyer at Sonnenberg & Cunningham on behalf of Great Star Industrial USA. The pipe clamps are imported without a pipe, which is supplied by the user, while the bar clamps are imported already mounted on a steel bar.