CBP collected $71.9 billion in customs duties during fiscal year 2019, a 73 percent increase over the previous fiscal year, the agency said in a news release about its latest annual report on the agency's travel and trade statistics. “This is a staggering increase in duty collections, linked directly to the Administration’s trade remedy measures under Sections 201 and 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 and Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962.” CBP said in the report. “Whereas remedies were only in place for part of fiscal year 2018, they were in place for the entire fiscal year in 2019.”
CBP remains cautious in moving toward continuing education requirements for customs brokers as it continues to examine the issues that derailed a similar effort some years ago, said Brenda Smith, executive assistant commissioner of CBP’s Office of Trade, during a Jan. 29 interview with International Trade Today. CBP recently launched a task force on the subject (see 1910160056), but the agency is considering whether an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) is necessary before issuing an actual proposal, she said.
CBP published notices in the Customs Bulletin revoking or modifying numerous rulings in 2019. These ruling revocations and modifications also apply to “any treatment previously accorded by CBP to substantially identical transactions.” When revoking or modifying a ruling, CBP is required by 19 USC 1625(c) to publish notice of the proposed action, and allow a period—generally one month—for comment before finalizing the action. An importer’s failure to advise CBP of “substantially identical transactions” or of a ruling not identified by CBP in these notices “may raise issues of reasonable care on the part of the importer or its agents for importations of merchandise subsequent to the effective date of this notice.” Rulings CBP revoked or modified in 2019 are as follows:
The following is a selection of articles that appeared in International Trade Today in 2019 covering ruling letters. CBP frequently publishes rulings months after they are issued, so these articles are included based on the dates the articles were published, rather than the date the ruling letter was issued.
The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated on Jan. 28. The following headquarters rulings not involving carriers were modified on Jan. 27 or 28, according to CBP:
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Jan. 21-24 in case they were missed.
The Presidential Proclamation establishing new Section 232 tariffs on finished goods of steel and aluminum and the annexes detailing the covered goods is scheduled for publication in the Federal Register on Jan. 29. The new 10 percent tariffs on aluminum goods and 25 percent tariffs on steel goods are set to take effect on Feb. 8 (see 2001250003).
The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security posted the two annexes from the recently announced expansion of Section 232 tariffs on goods made from steel and aluminum. The annex for aluminum products lists six subheadings covering types of wire and automobile stampings. The annex for the steel products includes four subheadings that cover types of nails, tacks and automobile stampings.
When the new 25 percent Section 232 tariffs go into effect on finished steel products, approximately $800 million in goods will be affected, according to International Trade Commission data for the last full year of imports. That does not include more than $100 million in imports from South Korea, Mexico and Canada that will be exempt from the new policy.
Importers and domestic producers are waiting to find out which steel and aluminum finished products will be hit with 25 percent and 10 percent tariffs, respectively (see 2001250003), because the administration said tariffs on the raw materials that make those products have not benefited domestic producers enough.