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On June 23, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) published in the Federal Register its much-anticipated final rule for Continuing Education for Licensed Customs Brokers. The rule will be effective as of July 24, 2023. The final rule closely resembles the proposed rule that was published on September 10, 2021, with some minor changes. Some key elements of the rule:
Ian Saunders was elected to become the next Secretary General of the World Customs Organization (WCO). The WCO, an independent intergovernmental body representing 185 Customs administrations across the globe, is the global center of customs expertise whose mission is to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of Customs administrations. Mr. Saunders was the U.S. candidate and is currently the Deputy Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration.
Mr. Saunders stated previously that: “My vision for the WCO is to have an organization that builds on its past. The WCO is responsible for a lot of the consistency that we have in the management of local trade now. But I want to make sure that we’re building an organization that is focused on providing the right information products and services to members that will allow them to protect their societies better from both a revenue and a security perspective.”
“My vision also includes engaging the private sector in a different way. The WCO’s individual customs administrations have constraints on their resources, and we need to find ways to mine the expertise and resources of the private sector that shares an interest in seeing international trade function well. We need to engage in a way that allows those insights and those resources to be brought to bear on the problems that are bigger than any one of us alone.”
The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has proposed a controversial amendment to the rules governing the valuation of imports into Canada under the Valuation for Duty Regulations. One of the items causing concern is a proposed change to the term “sale for export”. The CBSA stated the following in a consultation notice:
“This proposal would ensure that the value for duty of imported goods determined under the transaction value method is based on the sale that causes the goods to be exported to Canada, i.e. the last transaction in the commercial chain, irrespective of the chronological order of the sales. Under the proposal, the term "sale" would be constructed in a broad sense, which would include any type of arrangements that cause the goods to be exported to Canada.”
One concern is that the above broad definition of “sale for export” could lead to a situation wherein a subsequent domestic sale in Canada for a higher price for the merchandise being imported could be construed as the last transaction in the chain that caused the goods to be exported to Canada. This could then lead to higher determined valuation amounts and increased duty liabilities.
As the European Union’s Import Control System 2 (ICS2) second release deployment window comes to an end on July 1, requiring all airlines to submit detailed shipment information into a new centralized system known as the “Shared Trader Interface” before goods are loaded onto an aircraft, JAS USA is more than ready. Laurie Arnold, Vice President Compliance of JAS USA, stated:
“We're going to be ready. We know what we're doing. We're not going to have to try to figure out how we're going to transmit this data to the airlines or how the airlines are going to get it and transmit it to the government. We will be ahead of the game.”
Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) Baltimore Field Office (which covers the ports of Baltimore MD, Norfolk VA, and Philadelphia PA, inter alia) took the top spot for intercepting the most stolen vehicles attempting to be exported during the 2022 fiscal year. A total of 239 stolen vehicles were seized with an estimated total value of $11,500,000. The most expensive vehicle recovered was a 2022 Bentley Bentayga, valued at $187,600. Some other interesting aspects of these seizures were:
Although the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act of 2000 (CDSOA) was repealed in 2005, there are still antidumping and countervailing duty orders with assessed amounts that can be claimed by affected domestic producers who qualify and submit the required certifications by July 31, 2023.
Customs and Border Protection has also recently initiated several Enforce and Protect Act (EAPA) investigations alleging evasion of antidumping/countervailing duty orders. Some of the products concerned are Chassis and Subassembiles from China, Quartz Surface Products from China, and Xanthan Gum from China.
Every Fourth of July, Independence Day is celebrated in the U.S. with fireworks and celebrations. However, the meeting that took place on July 4, 1776, in Philadelphia wherein the historic Declaration of Independence was ratified, was a rather mundane affair. The Continental Congress delegates themselves more than likely did not fully comprehend at the time the significance of the illustrious document they were agreeing to, nor did Thomas Jefferson, the young man of thirty-three years of age who penned most of the document. A committee had been created by the delegates to pen a “declaration of independence” just in case independence from Great Britain was the course all the delegates agreed to pursue. Along with Jefferson, two of the other committee members were Benjamin Franklin and John Adams. Jefferson was assigned the task of writing the draft since he, as John Adams stated, “could write ten times better” than anyone else. Then as Jefferson wrote the words, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights…”, the seeds of a great nation were sown! Happy Fourth of July to all!
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