The government is considering how quickly it can get through a legislative fix to U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement implementation provisions that allow for duty refunds on post-importation preference claims, but not a refund of merchandise processing fees, said Maya Kumar, director of textiles and trade agreements at CBP. She said on May 22 that CBP officials “do not think that was the intent of the law.” Kumar, who was speaking at the National Association of Foreign-Trade Zones virtual conference, said that if it's at all possible, CBP would like to see that fixed by Congress before USMCA's entry into force July 1. “We’re trying to work with [the office of the U.S. Trade Representative] as well as Congress and see how quickly they can do that,” she said.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives will end its participation in a CBP pilot on electronic filing in ACE of export-related ATF forms and data (see 1607080020), ATF said in a notice. The Border Interagency Executive Council and the departments of the Treasury and Homeland Security “asked ATF to end the pilot,” the notice said. “Pilot participants can continue to function as they did while on the pilot. Participants will not notice any differences after the pilot has ended. At some point, CBP will mandate importers and exporters to use the ACE single window; however, [the Department of Homeland Security] needs all pilots successfully completed to move to their next phase of implementation. The termination of the pilot will not cause any delays for participating exporters, and CBP will continue to transmit the certificate of exportation to ATF electronically.” CBP has not yet announced a date for when the filing entries in ACE will be mandatory, the notice said.
CBP created a page dedicated to “technical documentation related to filing export related content to CBP and the Automated Commercial Environment's AESDirect.”
The Federal Emergency Management Agency plans to issue export control decisions for most shipments of controlled medical equipment within two days, but some shipments may take as long as four days, a FEMA spokesperson said April 21. Some law firms have advised medical equipment exporters to expect delays at ports across the country as FEMA makes those determinations, which involves a review of “letters of attestation” from exporters, who must certify that they qualify for one of several exemptions FEMA issued this week (see 2004200019).
A group of 31 House lawmakers, led by Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., and Rep. Jackie Walorski, R-Ind., is asking the U.S. trade representative to delay the switch-over to the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement auto rules of origin (ROO), even as the USMCA takes over from NAFTA. The group's letter, sent April 10, said the delay “is necessary to allow the auto industry an appropriate adjustment period and account for delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Alternatively, we ask that you seriously consider other accommodations or flexibilities that will allow the automotive sector to avoid being penalized by the new requirements upon the agreement’s entry into force.”
The Automated Export System has been updated to accept changes in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule from Presidential Proclamation 9980, which was published Jan. 29 and took effect Feb. 8, the Census Bureau said in an emailed alert. “AES will accept shipments with outdated codes during a grace period for 30 days beyond the expiration date. Reporting an outdated code after the 30-day grace period will result in a fatal error,” Census said. “The ACE AESDirect program has been updated and will accept shipments with outdated codes during the grace period.” The current list of HTS codes not valid for AES is available on the Census website, the agency said.
The end-of-the-year appropriations compromise worked out between the House and Senate will add tens of millions of dollars for trade enforcement and port technology. The bill, which is expected to pass the Senate by Dec. 20 and has already passed the House of Representatives, will also spend $54 million for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
The Government Accountability Office and the Department of Homeland Security Inspector General each released a report on Dec. 17 that noted various issues within CBP's drawback program. The GAO's report suggested that CBP work to flag excessive export submissions and “establish a reliable system of record for proof of export,” among other things. The DHS IG report found that CBP “lacked appropriate documentation retention periods to ensure importers and claimants maintained support for drawback transactions” and didn't scrutinize prior drawback claims enough for claimants during 2011 to 2018.
Chubb Limited, a Swiss holding company, was fined about $65,000 for more than 20,000 violations of the Cuban Assets Control Regulations, the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control said in an enforcement notice. The violations were the responsibility of ACE Limited -- an insurance and reinsurance service provider with locations in Switzerland, U.S. and Britain -- which merged with Chubb Corp. in 2016 to form Chubb Limited.
The U.S. will soon start discussions with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations about a possible connection between ASEAN's customs filing platform with the U.S. platform, the State Department said in a Nov. 3 fact sheet about "Expanding the Enduring Partnership" with ASEAN. "The United States and the ASEAN Secretariat announced the opening of negotiations to link the ASEAN 'Single Window' with the U.S. Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) System, which governs all trade in goods entering the United States," State said. "Making this link will further facilitate $272 billion in two-way trade in goods between the United States and ASEAN."