A recent set of frequently asked questions about the withhold release order aimed at silica-based products produced by Hoshine Silicon Industry, a company located in China's Xinjiang province (see 2108030026), provides some insights on how CBP views its enforcement role, Miller & Chevalier lawyers said in an alert. CBP's list of example products subject to the WRO showed that the agency views the detention order as “far-reaching,” including both raw materials and “downstream products that contain silicon metals sourced from Hoshine or any [of] its subsidiaries, regardless of where the later-stage products (e.g., ingots, wafers, cells, and modules) are physically made.”
CBP is planning to extend the ongoing Section 321 data collection pilot for low-value shipments and expand it to more participants while the agency continues to work on a proposal to require new mandatory data elements (see 2101290033), said Jim Swanson, CBP director-cargo and conveyance security and controls, who was speaking virtually during a CBP Detroit Trade Week event Aug. 3. "We think we need to expand that out, get more participation in it, get people used to the idea they have to collect this additional information, because the big effort that we're working on is regulations that will mandate that level of information," he said.
CBP recently posted answers to a set of frequently asked questions about the withhold release order aimed at silica-based products from China. The June 24 WRO applies to silicon produced by Hoshine Silicon Industry, a company located in China's Xinjiang province, and its subsidiaries (see 2106240062). The FAQs add some more details for how CBP will be administering the WRO.
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from July 19-23 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission is moving forward with an expansion of its import program to focus on e-commerce and de minimis shipments, said Jim Joholske, director of CPSC’s Office of Import Surveillance, at CBP’s Virtual Trade Week July 22. Recent increases in funding for the agency means CPSC now has the resources to focus on small shipments, and will allow CPSC to staff express carrier, air cargo and international mail facilities with import personnel, he said.
A panel of CBP officials told members of the trade community that they're still considering how to shape a rulemaking based on what they've learned from the Entry Type 86 test and the Section 321 data pilot, but they expect to require 10-digit Harmonized Tariff Schedule codes on de minimis entries that PGAs have an interest in.
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from June 21-25 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
CBP will exempt some filers from the requirement to file a 10-digit Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading on low value shipments that do not have PGA requirements once it finalizes new data elements for Section 321 shipments, Brandon Lord, acting CBP executive director-trade policy and programs, said at the June 23 meeting of the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee.
The Treasury Department published its spring 2021 regulatory agenda for CBP. The agenda includes some details about a proposal to change USMCA rules for non-preferential origin determinations for merchandise imported from Canada or Mexico. The proposal was previously disclosed by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, within the Office of Management and Budget (see 2105120051), where it remains under review.
The China package once known as the Endless Frontier Act passed the Senate with 68 votes. The U.S. Innovation and Competition Act includes a trade amendment that authorizes a new Miscellaneous Tariff Bill, restarts applications for Section 301 tariff exclusions, adds an inspector general to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, renews the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program for more than five years and directs the CBP to increase inspections of imports with the aim of finding counterfeits. The bill passed the evening of June 8.