American Shipper reports that Ford Motor Company is off the hook for more than $5 million in duties and penalties after the Court of International Trade (CIT) ruled that the statute of limitations for paying the fine had expired, a decision that international trade lawyers familiar with the case stated could have implications for hundreds of other importers. (See ITT's Online Archives or 03/13/06, 06031325 for BP summary of CIT decision)(American Shipper, March 2006)
CBP CROSS Rulings
CBP issues binding advance rulings in connection with the importation of merchandise into the United States. They issue the rulings to give the trade community transparency of how CBP will treat a prospective import or carrier transaction. Common rulings include the tariff classification, country of origin, or free trade agreement applicability of merchandise, among other things. These rulings are available in CBP's Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) database.
(This BP summary has been corrected for the second listing of countries.)
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued a memorandum which contains instructions on the retroactive application of the preferential tariff provisions1 of the U.S. - Dominican Republic - Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) to qualifying textile or apparel goods of eligible DR-CAFTA countries that were entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption on or after January 1, 2004 and before April 1, 2006, the DR-CAFTA's effective date for Nicaragua and Honduras.
In the April 5, 2006 issue of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Bulletin (CBP Bulletin) (Vol. 40, No. 15), CBP issued a notice proposing to modify a classification ruling on necklaces of plastic beads with metallic paint. CBP states that it is also proposing to revoke any treatment it has previously accorded to substantially identical transactions.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has updated certain of its posted information on various countries' implementation and enforcement of ISPM 15 treatment and marking requirements for wood packaging material (WPM).
The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued a notice amending the final results of its countervailing (CV) duty administrative review on dynamic random access memory semiconductors (DRAMS) from Korea for the period of April 7, 2003 through December 31, 2003 in order to correct certain ministerial errors to the CV duty rate for Hynix.
In the April 5, 2006 issue of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Bulletin (CBPBulletin) (Vol. 40, No. 15), CBP issued notices: (a) proposing to revoke one classification ruling on a CD softcase with integrated loudspeaker, and (b) revoking one classification ruling on Everolimus.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has posted to its Web site a revised version of its requirements for the electronic rulings (eRulings) program, in order to provide guidance on the information that would be helpful to include in an eRuling request.
In the March 29, 2006 issue of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Bulletin (CBP Bulletin) (Vol. 40, No. 14), CBP issued a notice proposing to modify a classification ruling on a leather card case with a detachable money clip that has a built-in watch. CBP states that it is also proposing to revoke any treatment it has previously accorded to substantially identical transactions.
In the March 29, 2006 issue of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Bulletin (CBP Bulletin) (Vol. 40, No. 14), CBP issued a notice proposing to modify a classification ruling on steel tubes prepared for use as fence posts. CBP states that it is also proposing to revoke any treatment it has previously accorded to substantially identical transactions.