CBP is requiring Advance Electronic Data on all postal shipments from China to the U.S. beginning Jan. 1, 2019, it said in a CSMS message. That also applies to international mail from Hong Kong and Macau, as well as to foreign postal operators that ship goods destined for the U.S. that originated in China, CBP said in the message for air and ocean carriers. “CBP would like the carriers to communicate with postal officials in the People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong, and Macau to confirm that 100 percent of the containers with postal shipments contain AED before loading them onto their conveyance,” it said. “If the postal operator identifies to the carrier that a container does not have 100 percent AED, then the carrier should not accept that container,” it said. “Enforcement action on the shipments, which may include return of shipments without 100 percent AED, could begin at any time beginning January 1, 2019.” The STOP Act, or Synthetics Trafficking and Overdose Prevention Act, signed by President Donald Trump in October (see 1810240052), requires electronic data on all mail shipments from China by the beginning of 2019, and all mail shipments worldwide by 2020.

All the quota openings for Jan. 2, including the Section 232 quotas on steel and aluminum, "appear to be operating normally," according to a National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America description of CBP's recent call with industry about trade processing during the federal government shutdown. "CBP stated that they are sorting through the funding lapse on legal and administrative processes, but that the trade should go ahead and meet any deadlines due to CBP," according to the NCBFAA. During the shutdown, "the ACE Help Desk and the ACE Accounts Service Desk are manned by contractors who are already funded," the NCBFAA said. "The Trade Remedy and Entry Summary mailboxes will also still be monitored." Rulings will not be issued during the shutdown, but CBP import specialists at the Centers of Excellence and Expertise are still at work and will be issuing and reviewing responses to CBP Forms 28 and 29. CBP Fines, Penalties and Forfeiture officers are also still on the job. Asked about other agencies, CBP said it is not its "intention to hold cargo, and they intend to conditionally release."

CBP will not be penalizing carriers that are unable to file Section 321 manifests for truck shipments due to "CBP system limitations," the agency said in a Dec. 31 CSMS message. CBP announced plans in November to require advance electronic manifest filing for all commercial trucks with Section 321 shipments starting Jan. 1 (see 1811050010). Technical issues within ACE limit "number of Section 321 shipments that can be manifested to 5,000 or less when transported by truck," CBP said. A correction will be in place by April 1, but "absent the technical correction within ACE, carriers transporting more than 5,000 shipments of Section 321 merchandise are unable to file an electronic manifest," CBP said. CBP may still pursue enforcement action "for truck carriers with 5,000 or less shipments if the manifest was not submitted electronically," it said.

CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:​

CBP is seeking comments by Jan. 25 on an existing information collection about manifests for entry of merchandise free of duty, it said in a notice. CBP proposes to extend the expiration date of this information collection with no change to the information collected or to the estimated burden hours associated with the collection.

CBP Commissioner "Kevin McAleenan has got to go," according to activist group Credo Action. The call for McAleenan's resignation comes after a 7-year-old migrant died while under the custody of Border Patrol. "McAleenan is a ruthless Trump loyalist and enforcer," said Credo, which is circulating a petition demanding that McAleenan resign. CBP didn't comment.

CBP will not be actively managing the agency's website during the ongoing federal government shutdown (see 1812240009), CBP said in a notice on the site. "Due to the lapse in federal funding, this website will not be actively managed," said CBP. "This website was last updated on December 21, 2018 and will not be updated until after funding is enacted. As such, information on this website may not be up to date. Transactions submitted via this website might not be processed and we will not be able to respond to inquiries until after appropriations are enacted."

CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:​

A listing of recent antidumping and countervailing duty messages from the Commerce Department posted to CBP's website Dec. 21, along with the case number(s) and CBP message number, is provided below. The messages are available by searching for the listed CBP message number at CBP's ADD CVD Search page.

CBP posted a draft version of its updated Form 5106 (Create/Update Importer Identity Form) that was approved by the Office of Management and Budget, CBP said on the agency website. Revising Form 5106 has been an ongoing effort since 2014 (see 14100815) and has faced industry concerns that new data fields are too onerous (see 1507240009). CBP recently set a concrete deployment date of Feb. 9 for its upcoming ACE Form 5106 input process (see 1811130052). The automation will allow the collection of more detailed importer information, and provide for more streamlined processing by giving filers the ability to create, edit and update importer information via ACE, CBP has said. It will also allow CBP to support implementation of the importer of record database required by Section 114 of the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act.