CBP should work with the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee to “clarify the types of audits or reviews to which trusted trader partners may be subject regarding compliance, including forced labor,” the COAC Trusted Trader Working Group said in a recommendation that was approved during the Dec. 16 COAC meeting. Working group co-chair Alexandra Latham said CBP last month began Risk Analysis & Survey Assessments (RASAs) around forced labor (see 2012020046).
CBP's “restrained enforcement” of the USMCA provisions will end as previously planned after Dec. 31 (see 2011040039), acting CBP Commissioner Mark Morgan said during the Dec. 16 Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) meeting. “Starting with the new year, CBP will enforce the USMCA as it does all other trade agreements,” he said. The agency allowed for lax enforcement of certifications of origin requirements for six months after the deal took effect so industry could adjust to the changes (see 2006020023). The CBP USMCA Center, created to help with USMCA implementation (see 2005120042), will remain in place for another three to five years, he said.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories for Dec. 7-11 in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching on the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
CBP is issuing a “blanket” authorization to allow the release of most types of merchandise on or after Dec. 16 through Dec. 31 under Immediate Delivery (ID) procedures, it said in a CSMS message. Many entry filers make regular use of ID procedures for fresh fruits and vegetables and other merchandise from Mexico and Canada, etc.
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from Dec. 7-11 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
A California clothing importer and its owners were indicted over schemes to undervalue apparel and evade customs duties, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California said in a Dec. 10 news release. The importer, C'est Toi Jeans (CTJ), and owner Si Oh Rhew, of La Canada Flintridge, and his son, Lance Rhew, of Los Angeles, a CTJ corporate officer who owns another company that did business with CTJ, were the subjects of a 35-count indictment from a federal grand jury, the Department of Justice said. The charges include “conspiracy; entry of goods falsely classified; entry of goods by means of false statements; passing false and fraudulent papers through customhouse.”
The Treasury Department published its fall 2020 regulatory agenda for CBP. The agenda now mentions a proposal to end the de minimis exemption for goods subject to Section 301 tariffs. The proposal was previously disclosed by the Office of Management and Budget (see 2009040026), where it remains under review. Brenda Smith, CBP executive assistant international trade commissioner, recently cited some operational concerns with the idea (see 2011100034).
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published its fall 2020 regulatory agenda for CBP. The agenda includes no new trade actions.
The Commerce Department will make some changes to processes used on requests for exclusion from the Section 232, it said in an interim final rule released Dec. 10. One change is meant to “create a more efficient method for approving exclusions where objections have not been received in the past for certain steel or aluminum articles,” it said. Through General Approved Exclusions (GAEs), Commerce will create exclusions “that may be used by any importing entity,” it said. The “change will result in an estimated immediate decrease of 5,000 exclusion requests annually, resulting in a significant improvement in efficiency, with the possibility of more in the future,” it said. “Unlike exclusion requests, GAEs do not include quantity limits.”
The statute that authorizes CBP enforcement of a prohibition on imports made through forced labor may not be enough to stem mistreatment of Chinese Muslims in the Xinjiang region, the Congressional Research Service said in a Dec. 7 report. “Many experts agree that Section 307 is an important tool, but perhaps not sufficient to bring about policy changes in China given the scale and severity of the human rights crisis, which goes beyond forced labor to include mass arbitrary detention, mass surveillance, and other abuses,” it said. A recent withhold release order on Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps cotton was a major enforcement action by CBP and the government is considering additional steps (see 2012030021).