Monday Morning eBriefing

The USDA Animal and Plant Health and Inspection Service (APHIS) Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) program released its fiscal year 2025 Annual Report, which highlights achievements and program outcomes during the year. APHIS described its mission as serving "as the Nation’s frontline defense by detecting emerging plant health risks early, responding rapidly, and managing invasive species to safeguard U.S. production, trade, and the broader economy." In fiscal year (FY) 2025, APHIS leaders said, "PPQ achieved significant success, celebrated key accomplishments, and addressed new challenges."

The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has published a Federal Register notice in which it has proposed to increase Section 232 duties on 14 additional articles made with steel, aluminum, and copper. Commerce proposes that all these aluminum, steel, and copper derivative products would generally be subject to a Section 232 tariff of 25%, except for cranes, mobile lifting frames and various trailers which would be subject to a Section 232 tariff of 15%.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in an Aug. 4 update to the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) reported that as of 3 p.m. ET on Friday, July 31, approximately 25.1 million entries with IEEPA duties were processed through the agency’s Consolidated Administration and Process of Entries (CAPE) since the ACE program’s launch on April 20, accounting for $128.68 billion in both potential and certified refunds.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Aug. 3 provided the trade with this announcement regarding modifications to the processing of Post Summary Corrections (PSCs). CBP said the filer must electronically remit payment for increases in duties, taxes, and fees resulting from a PSC via Automated Clearinghouse (ACH). Effective August 5, filers will no longer be able to pay these increases via check or cash.

President Trump on Friday, July 31, announced a proclamation to impose a tariff-rate quota on imports of quartz surface products (QSP) for a period of four years, with annual increases in the within-quota quantities and reductions in the rates of duty applicable to goods entered within and in excess of those quantities in the second, third, and fourth years, as provided in the Annex to this proclamation.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), on behalf of the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force (FLETF), July 31 added 43 companies to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) Entity List, as well as technical updates to two existing entities. According to Customs and Border Protection (CBP), these newly added entities include companies in high-priority sectors for enforcement, including aluminum, apparel, copper, cotton, as well as tomatoes and downstream products.

The Census Bureau on July 28 deleted the following Schedule K port codes from the Automated Export System (AES). In addition, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on July 29 made changes to the HTS numbers that cannot be reported in AES.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has adjusted certain customs user fees as required by the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) for fiscal year 2027, effective Oct. 1.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on July 30 provided guidance on the implementation of the April 2 Presidential Proclamation 11020, Adjusting Imports of Pharmaceuticals and Pharmaceutical Ingredients Into the United States. Effective Friday, 12:01 a.m. ET on July 31, all importers of goods classified under the subject HTSUS classifications (in Chapters 29 and 30 of the HTSUS) are required to report an applicable Chapter 99 HTSUS classification.

The USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has issued updates to filing APHIS Core at Plant Inspection Stations to include Plants for Planting - Category Code 406 (Tissue Culture) and PG30 Record - Laboratory/Testing Status "I."

Starting Aug. 3, importers and customs brokers responding to Emergency Action Notifications (EANs) and Regulatory Action (RA) Notifications issued by the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) will have a faster way to respond to APHIS: electronic signatures.

A summary of the latest legislative and regulatory transport, logistics and trade sector updates brought to you by our NCBFAA Transportation Counsel firm Venable.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at the Port of Huron reminded the trade of the regulatory requirements and advanced electronic manifest notification process for split shipments consolidated on a single entry under 19 CFR 141.57, specifically 19 CFR 141.57(b) and (c). Historically there has been confusion amongst the various Trade parties about how to properly input and link the electronic data for these types of shipments resulting in delays at the border.

On behalf of NCBFAA's Board of Directors, Leadership and Staff, we want to take a moment to acknowledge and welcome Exim Americas, which has recently joined our association. We're so excited to have this firm join our organization and we are happy to assist in any way we can!

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on July 29 announced it has uncovered more than $1 billion in additional duties owed under the Enforce and Protect Act (EAPA), which authorizes the agency to investigate and stop duty evasion schemes like illegal transshipment, misclassification, and undervaluation. CBP issued 14 notices of determination in 2026 involving a variety of products such as solar cells, tow-behind lawn groomers, lumber, pipes, xanthan gum, metal lockers, and wooden furniture imported from countries across the globe.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) clarified its previous instructions related to the PGA Message Set requirements that were implemented July 8. The original CSMS Message caused some confusion when it seemed to imply that the PGA Message Set is optional.

A summary of the latest customs and cross-border trade regulatory updates brought to you by our NCBFAA Customs Counsel firm Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg.

NCBFAA President Karen Damon on July 27 sent a letter drafted by Customs Committee leadership on behalf of our customs broker membership to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) raising the association’s questions and points of considerations for the agency when implementing the White House Executive Order 14411 to strengthen customs enforcement. “The brokerage community understands CBP’s enhanced role in supply chain enforcement and offers these comments to support this initiative in a manner that deters illicit cargo while promoting lawful trade,” Damon wrote. “We view the customs broker as having a critical role in supporting the E.O.”

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Aug. 3 will implement a new e214 error code for Post Admission Corrections validation to ACE Production environment, including adding new error code 237 and deleting 16 error codes which are no longer used.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) and Department of Homeland Security's July 2026 Resource Guide to Trade Fraud Enforcement provides a blueprint of the Administration's aggressive enforcement of trade fraud, meticulously summarizing the statutory framework, agency roles and investigative tools that underpin federal customs enforcement. The guide does not only cover the usual areas of customs fraud — duty evasion, misclassification, undervaluation, and transshipment. Customs brokers should also pay close attention to how much space the Guide devotes to Partner Government Agency (PGA) violations.