Monday Morning eBriefing

Published in the FEDERAL REGISTER on May 9, 2019, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has announced an increase in trade-remedy tariffs. The previously twice-delayed increase in trade-remedy tariffs assessed on products of Chinese origin pursuant to Section 301 Tranche 3 or List III will now be implemented. The notice provides for a two-part effective date and brokers need to consider the export and entry dates. The notice reads in part, "Effective with respect to goods (i) entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on May 10, 2019, and (ii) exported to the United States on or after May 10, 2019...". For goods meeting both qualifications, the trade-remedy tariff will increase from 10% to 25%. Thus, goods exported to the United States from China prior to May 10, 2019, will not be subject to the higher rate of duty.

Two years ago, the NCBFAA worked with the US Coast Guard (USCG) to challenge the attempts of the ocean carriers that would have required NVOCCs and shippers to provide a Verified Gross Mass (VGM) Certificate to the carriers in advance of tendering cargo. As you may recall, the VGM issue arose due to efforts by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), after several vessels capsized for unknown reasons, to adopt a method that would provide greater certainty about the weight of containers being loaded on vessels.

In their April 24 conference call, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) provided the trade with an update to the current state of southern border port operations. As a reminder, the NCBFAA is asking that if you have any questions for CBP that you would like to see answered in an upcoming call, please let us know and we will do our best to have them answered.

In an April 11 conference call, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) provided the trade an update to the current state of southern border port operations.

In an April 4 conference call, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) provided the trade an update to the current state of southern border port operations.

Last week, we reported that some of our members were receiving Form 5106 rejections for using an "Invalid Address." To help alleviate these issues, we highlighted a CSMS message from September 2007 in which U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) denoted how ACE validates addresses. For U.S. based addresses, you must find out if the address is valid by verifying it with the U.S. Postal Service. The same rules apply to both Canada and Mexico. CBP has also compiled a list of countries, their two-digit ISO codes and whether or not they require a zip code. You may find that information here.

Last week, we reported that members were experiencing a handful of problems with the 5106 functionality. After addressing issues surrounding "Delayed Importer/Bond Query (KI/KR) Response Times," U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) released a list of solutions to the most common errors users are reporting when inputting the Create/Update Importer Identity Form in ACE:

The National Oceanic Atmospheric Association (NOAA) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have extended the period of "informed compliance" for submission of SIMP data for shrimp and abalone until April 1. The informed compliance period was established to ensure the trade was prepared to successfully submit SIMP data for shrimp/abalone with their Entry. Beginning April 1, all shrimp and abalone entries that do not comply with the mandatory SIMP message set will be refused entry.

As previously reported, FMC Commissioner Rebecca Dye was placed in charge of Fact Finding Investigation 28 that was looking into carrier and port demurrage and detention practices. This investigation arose out of the Petition filed by the NCBFAA and a number of other trade associations requesting that the Commission issue a rule to extend free time on demurrage and detention in those instances where containers could not be picked up or returned due to circumstances beyond the control of NVOCCs and cargo owners.

High-value valuation reviews are reportedly being conducted by Chinese Customs in certain ports. A few of the NCBFAA's Export Compliance Sub-committee members have reported seeing these requests from their counterparts in China, requesting "Declaration Documents issued by US Customs on which could certify cargo actual value."

NCBFAA joined more than 140 organizations in a letter from the Coalition for Free Trade to President Trump expressing approval for his decision to avoid a tariff increase on March 2 and allow negotiations with China to continue. The coalition wrote: "It is our hope that the momentum will build in the weeks ahead and lead to a final deal that addresses structural issues in China, removes tariffs on both sides and eliminates trade uncertainty facing American business and farmers." At the same time, the group urged the Administration to "publish a notice in the Federal Register immediately confirming and detailing your decision in order to provide certainty to the business community."

In a notice posted in the February 20 edition of the Federal Register, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced that they have revoked close to 600 hundred customs broker's licenses for their failure to file the 2018 triennial status reports.

In letters to both U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the NCBFAA applauded the two agencies on their handling of the recent Federal Government shutdown. In particular, the NCBFAA appreciated how each agency went out of their way to keep the Trade, and our members, apprised of all crucial information pertaining to the movement of trade. The information was vital in keeping all of our businesses up and running as smooth as possible in such a tumultuous time period.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has just announced that the location for the "21st Century Customs Framework" public meeting, scheduled for Friday, March 1, has been changed. The public meeting will now be held at the U.S. Department of Commerce's Herbert Hoover Auditorium in Washington, D.C.

On January 28, after the government shutdown ended, the NCBFAA filed comments in response to a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that the Federal Maritime Commission had initiated in December. The NPRM was relatively noncontroversial and was intended by the agency primarily streamline and clarify certain of the various regulations affecting the renewal process for OTI licenses.

Last Friday, President Trump signed a short-term spending bill that will reopen the Federal Government through at least February 15. If a longer deal has not been worked out by February 15, President Trump said that "the government will either shut down again," or "I will use my powers to build a wall."

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced to the NCBFAA last Thursday that the enforcement of the changes to the in-bond regulations and the enforcement of ISF-5 fillings were being postponed due to the ongoing government shutdown. A CSMS message was released the following day, explaining the postponement in more detail.

Last week, the Americans for Free Trade Coalition, of which the NCBFAA is a member, welcomed the newly-elected and returning members of the 116th Congress with a letter urging them to consider the impact the trade war was having on their districts and states and reminding them of the power they have in trade policy matters.

Due to the ongoing Government shutdown, the NCBFAA will have to postpone our upcoming "The New Normal at the FMC" Summit. The event, which was scheduled to feature the Federal Maritime Commission's (FMC) Acting Chairman Michael Khouri and Commissioner Rebecca Dye, will be rescheduled after the reopening of the Federal Government. If you have registered for the event, we will be issuing you a full refund.

With a Federal government shutdown officially underway, the NCBFAA has reached out to representatives of Partner Government Agencies (PGA) for information regarding the arrangements they have in place for the processing of Import and Export cargo. Please see below for agency guidance and procedure.