Turkey recently amended its customs regulations to end a de minimis exemption for low-value goods imported by mail or express courier. The exemption, which previously allowed goods valued at less than €22 ($24.55) to enter duty-free, is being abolished entirely, according to an alert from Turkish law firm BTS & Partners that was posted by Mondaq. The decree, which was published May 15, also amended restrictions on importation of mobile phones carried by passengers. The changes take effect 15 days after publication, i.e., May 30, according to an unofficial translation.
Foreign manufacturers need to be aware that their products may be covered by the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security's listing of telecommunications equipment manufacturer Huawei on the Entity List, even if they aren't manufactured in the U.S., according to an alert by law firm Sheppard Mullin. U.S. export controls on Huawei and its affiliates may apply to a substantial scope of foreign goods that contain more than 25 percent U.S.-origin content. Under the BIS de minimis rule, products are subject to the Export Administration Regulations -- and consequently new license requirements for Huawei -- if more than one-fourth of the product is composed of U.S.-origin content that is also controlled under the EAR, except for “EAR99 items” or products that do not require a license, the alert said.
The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security is adding five new national security-related technologies to the Export Administration Regulations’ Commerce Control List, according to a notice in the Federal Register. The additions stem from changes made to the Wassenaar Arrangement’s List of Dual-Use Goods and Technologies agreed to during the 2018 Plenary meeting, the notice said. The changes add “recently developed or developing technologies” that are “essential” to U.S. national security: “discrete microwave transistors,” “continuity of operation software,” “post-quantum cryptography,” “underwater transducers designed to operate as hydrophones” and “air-launch platforms.” The notice is scheduled for publication and the changes take effect on May 23.
The Canada Border Services Agency should review the Courier Low Value Shipment Program "to improve the validation and collection" of sales taxes, the Auditor General of Canada said in a recently released report. The report focused on the growth of e-commerce from 2014 through February of 2019. "We found that existing legislation, combined with the Canada Border Services Agency’s poor data management of low-value shipments imported into Canada by courier companies, placed Canadian businesses at an unfair disadvantage in relation to foreign vendors," the Auditor General said. "According to the Department of Finance Canada, the situation could have encouraged domestic vendors to move their operations abroad and could have discouraged foreign investment in Canada."
The International Trade Commission estimated that by the sixth year after the new NAFTA's ratification, the U.S. economy would have 176,000 more jobs than it would have without the new revised trade deal. That's a 0.12 percent increase compared to the status quo.
FTI Consulting will now offer services related to export controls and sanctions compliance, the company said in an April 16 news release. "The Export Controls and Sanctions offering at FTI Consulting includes compliance program assessment and design, implementation and remediation; investigations and disclosures; independent monitoring or related support services; supply chain and third-party risk management; trade control audits and reviews; license application preparation and license management support; de minimis calculation analysis; deemed export control reviews; wind-down support for sanctioned country operations; and compliance crisis management," the company said. FTI hired Matthew Bell, who previously worked as chief export compliance officer at ZTE, as senior managing director to lead the new effort. “The complexities and changing nature of export control and sanction regulations require companies to undertake vigilance, ongoing training and continuous process improvement, particularly as governments have signaled additional enforcement and trade disputes have increased,” said Paul Ficca, global leader of the Forensic & Litigation Consulting segment at FTI Consulting.
The European Union and the U.S. have not formally begun the trade talks first agreed to last July, as the 28-member bloc still does not have a mandate to negotiate. Given that, many observers are doubtful negotiations could make substantial progress this year.
China overhauled its e-commerce regulations in recent months, upping its de minimis level and adding new responsibilities for logistics providers and foreign suppliers, and also adopted new regulations on foreign medical device facility inspections. Meanwhile, China's General Administration of Customs has recently set new requirements for bonded zones and set lower value-added tax rates for some products. The following is an update on recent customs and trade-related actions by China:
Work continues at CBP on its electronic pre-departure export manifest system, which the agency sees as a necessary precondition before the post-departure Automated Export System filing program is brought back, said Jim Swanson, CBP director-cargo and conveyance security and controls, in an interview. CBP is working on operational benefits for carriers to ramp up participation in its pilots in the ocean, rail and air modes, and hopes to move forward with truck pre-departure manifest next year, Swanson said.