CBP has some qualms with the operational aspects of ending the de minimis exemption for goods subject to Section 301 tariffs, Executive Assistant Commissioner for International Trade Brenda Smith said while speaking on the virtual Coalition of New England Companies for Trade conference on Nov. 9. There's a CBP proposal for the change that's under Office of Management and Budget review (see 2009040026). “We do have some concerns,” she said.
Customs duty
A customs duty is a tariff or tax which a country imposes on goods when they are transported across international borders. Customs Duties are used to protect countries' economies, residents, jobs, and environments, by limiting the flow of imported merchandise, especially restricted and prohibited goods, into the country. The Customs duty rate is a percentage determined by the value of the article purchased in the foreign country and not based on quality, size, or weight. U.S. customs duties are listed in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States.
The mistrust by the current administration of the de minimis exemption for low-value shipments may provide an opportunity to revise the law and address some inconsistent approaches, Bryan Wolfe, vice president-international trade at Ascena Retail Group, said during the National Association of Foreign-Trade Zones virtual conference on Nov. 6. Ascena, the parent company of Ann Taylor, Loft and other brands, is a leading member of Ship Safe Coalition, which advocates for policy changes around de minimis. The coalition expects that some coming changes to the de minimis entry process could be a time for “compromise between eliminating de minimis altogether and keeping it as is,” Wolfe said in his presentation.
The U.S. government is moving too slowly in the processing of refunds of duties paid on imported steel from Turkey that were subject to additional Section 232 tariffs, Transpacific Steel said in a Nov. 4 filing with the Court of International Trade. Transpacific was the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit over the tariffs. A three-judge CIT panel ruled that the tariffs were improperly imposed because they were put in place after the statutory timelines for Section 232 tariffs (see 2007140046). A government appeal filed in September with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is awaiting a ruling.
Face masks made in Ethiopia from fabric and other materials sourced from Thailand are products of Thailand, and are not eligible for duty benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act, CBP said in a ruling issued Oct. 22 and posted to the agency’s online database on Nov. 2.
CBP issued a CSMS message Nov. 2 detailing changes to eligibility for Generalized System of Preferences duty benefits as a result of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative’s 2020 GSP review. Effective Nov. 1, fresh-cut roses are newly eligible for GSP, while par-boiled rice is no longer eligible for duty-free treatment under the program. USTR also declared six county-product pairs ineligible for exceeding competitive needs limitations (CNLs), and will allow 24 country-product pairs that exceeded CNLs to remain eligible under de minimis waivers.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
Weighted blankets that are filled with glass beads for additional heft are classifiable as blankets, not as quilts, in the tariff schedule, CBP said in an Oct. 5 ruling. As imported by Franco Manufacturing, the weighted blankets aren’t sized to fit standard mattresses, as are quilts that are used as bedspreads, and the quilts are generally filled with soft materials, rather than hard materials like glass beads, CBP said in HQ H305101.
CBP updated its guidance related to a recent proclamation amending safeguard duties on crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells to reflect a court order blocking the elimination of an exemption for bifacial panels (see 2010130028). “Until further notice, CBP will not enforce the revocation of the exclusion of bifacial solar panels from the Section 201 safeguard measure,” it said in the Oct. 28 CSMS message. The International Trade Commission on Oct. 26 updated the tariff schedule to restore the exemption (see 2010270053).
President Donald Trump officially ended the Section 232 tariffs on aluminum from Canada through an Oct. 27 proclamation. The duty-free treatment applies retroactively to Sept. 1, as planned (see 2009150048), though reimposition of the tariffs remains possible, depending on import levels of Canadian aluminum. Any imports of aluminum subject to the tariffs into a foreign-trade zone before Sept. 1 under privileged foreign status will still be subject to the tariffs upon entry for consumption, Trump said. The harmonized tariff schedule number for aluminum from Canada subject to Section 232 tariffs expired on Oct. 27, CBP said in a CSMS message that day. The expired subheading is 9903.85.21.
The International Trade Commission updated the tariff schedule late Oct. 26 to restore an exemption for bifacial panels from safeguard duties on crystaline solar photovoltaic cells pursuant an order from the Court of International Trade. The exemption had been eliminated under an Oct. 10 presidential proclamation, but the CIT issued a temporary restraining order Oct. 24 that blocked the proclamation from taking effect. The court order specifically ordered the government to make no changes to the tariff schedule that would end the bifacial panel exemption.