CBP issued a notice in the Aug. 22 Customs Bulletin (Vol. 52, No. 34) regarding the dates and draft agenda for the 62nd Session of the World Customs Organization’s Harmonized System Committee (HSC), which will meet in Brussels Sept. 17-28. Among other things, the HSC issues classification decisions on the interpretation of the Harmonized System (HS) in the form of published tariff classification opinions or amendments to the Explanatory Notes. It also considers amendments to the legal text of the HS.
CBP is seeing an increase in bond insufficiency related to new sections 301 and 232 tariffs and expects that trend to continue, the agency told Colleen Clarke, vice president-business development at Roanoke Insurance Group. The National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of American said in an Aug. 20 email to members that CBP told Clarke that the agency "is urging brokers and sureties to be proactive in determining bond sufficiency." Roanoke Trade mentioned the issue during a webinar last month (see 1807260011).
CBP on Aug. 21 issued new filing instructions for goods subject to Section 301 duties, in light of recent changes to how the duties apply to goods from China and a new group of tariff subheadings that will become subject to the tariffs in the coming days. The agency’s CSMS message contains updated information on how to file Chapter 98 entries for several subheadings of that chapter newly subject to duties (see 1808160049), as well as how to enter goods under the 279 eight-digit subheadings for which Section 301 duties take effect at 12:01 a.m. on Aug. 23 (see 1808080020).
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 Aug. 10-15, 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.
Australia's exemption from Section 232 tariffs (see 1805310007) involves a deal in which CBP constantly monitors imports from the country, according to a report from Inside U.S. Trade on Aug. 20. John Leonard, executive director-trade policy and programs, briefly mentioned the arrangement during a meeting with reporters on Aug. 14. Australia was give "a special exemption from both tariffs and quota, but we're still monitoring imports from Australia," he said.
CBP released a list of best business practices for dealing with forced labor risks. The list mentions best practices for risk mitigation and internal controls. The document includes several questions involving an importer's "comprehensive understanding of the natural supply chain," written codes of conduct and the use of professionally recognized "objective audit standards" for internal controls.
CBP mistakenly included "an exemption for drawback claims for wine which included an imprecise reference" within the agency's proposed rules for drawback under the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act (see 1808020049), CBP said in a notice. CBP said it inadvertently referenced a section that "implements the statutory prohibition on double drawback." As "evident from the entirety of the proposed rule," that paragraph, "applies to all drawback claims for wine," the agency said.
CBP issued the following release on commercial trade and related matters:
ATLANTA -- CBP will sometime in the next month be providing a document outlining the policies of its partner government agencies (PGAs) for Section 321 shipments, said Danielle Pierson, a CBP international trade specialist, at the agency’s 2018 Trade Symposium on Aug. 15. Developed by a working group of the Border Interagency Executive Council, the document will be distributed via CSMS message, she said.