The International Dairy Foods Association told the chief agricultural negotiator at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative that it believes Canada is already violating the annex on tariff rate quotas in the USMCA. The dairy trade group, which sent a letter to Ambassador Gregg Doud on June 30, says that USMCA prohibits TRQs from having conditions or eligibility requirements beyond those already in the Canadian Tariff Schedule -- and that Canada is doing just that.
The Census Bureau recently released its mid-year update to Schedule B, with changes taking effect July 1. New Schedule B numbers are created to break out boneless meat of bison (0201.30.6010) from other boneless bovine meat (0201.30.6090), with old Schedule B number 0201.30.6000 for all fresh or chilled, unprocessed, boneless bovine meat now obsolete. New Schedule B number 2711.12.0010 is also being created for liquefied propane with a minimum purity of 90 liquid volume percent, with other liquefied propane now classifiable under Schedule B number 2711.12.0020. Schedule B number 2711.12.0000 for all liquefied propane is also obsolete. The changes mirror those in the International Trade Commission’s upcoming mid-year update to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule, though most of the upcoming HTS changes are not mirrored in Schedule B.
Importers may want to delay filing for U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement reconciliation because the USMCA currently doesn't allow for post-entry refunds of merchandise processing fees, CBP officials said during a National Association of Foreign-Trade Zones webinar on June 16. Maya Kamar, CBP director for textiles and trade agreements, said that although the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is working with Congress for a legislative fix to the issue, CBP doesn't yet have clarity on whether such a bill will pass (see 2006050034).
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 U.K.’s Department for International Trade released its Most Favored Nation tariff regime, which will replace the European Union’s Common External Tariff after the Brexit transition period ends, the U.K. said May 19. The regime, the U.K. Global Tariff (UKGT), will be “simpler” and “easier” to use than the EU’s system, the U.K. said, adding that it will “scrap red tape and other unnecessary barriers to trade.” The UKGT will simplify nearly 6,000 tariff lines and eliminate “thousands of unnecessary tariff variations on products” by abandoning the EU’s “complex” Meursing table, the U.K. said. Other changes include “scrapping unnecessary tariff variations, rounding tariffs down to standardised percentages, and getting rid of all ‘nuisance tariffs’ (those below 2%).”
Although the hearing scheduled for input on a Kenya Free Trade deal was canceled, comments continue to come in for what the U.S. trade representative's priorities should be.
The European Union will increase its safeguard measures on U.S. goods in retaliation for new Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum “derivatives” imposed in February, the EU said in a notice published in the April 7 Official Journal. Effective May 8, an additional 20% tariff will be imposed on U.S. lighters (other than pocket lighters) under EU Combined Nomenclature subheading 9613.80.00, and an additional 7% tariff on plastic fittings for furniture and coachwork of CN subheading 3926.30.00, the EU said.
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.
Colombia introduced a new special import declaration requirement relating to free zones, according to a Feb. 5 KPMG report. The change, which was announced Jan. 28, relates to import declarations for imports from “special permanent” or “permanent free zones” to Colombia’s national customs territory, the post said. The declarations must be submitted on a certain form on the last calendar day of each month, KPMG said, and must contain certain information, including the use of “Code 99999999999 as a subheading, regardless of whether the merchandise may correspond to different subheadings, provided that they all have the same value added tax (VAT) rate.” The declarations must also be submitted through the “electronic computer services” of Colombia’s tax and customs authority, KPMG said, and free zone operators must submit information about the movement of goods “that have actually left the free zone.” The importer must pay customs duties within the first five days of the following month “in which the presentation and acceptance of the special import declaration was made,” KPMG said.
The United Kingdom’s Department for International Trade launched a public consultation to inform the U.K.’s new independent “global tariff policy” after Brexit, the DIT said in a Feb. 6 notice. The U.K. said it is developing a new Most Favored Nation tariff schedule to take effect Jan. 2, 2021, to ensure U.K. companies “compete on fair terms with the rest of the world.” The consultation will open online for four weeks until March 5, the U.K. said, adding that it is seeking views on “simplifying and tailoring” tariffs to benefit UK companies, removing tariffs on “key inputs to production” to reduce costs for manufacturers, and removing tariffs where the U.K. has “zero or limited domestic production.”