Reserve your spot for the CBP Trade Symposium happening on July 21-22, 2021 at the Hilton Anaheim, Anaheim California. Sells out fast!
CNI will keep you updated.
Reserve your spot for the CBP Trade Symposium happening on July 21-22, 2021 at the Hilton Anaheim, Anaheim California. Sells out fast!
CNI will keep you updated.
On December 15,2020, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced that the 2021 Customs Broker Triennial Status Report and Fee Submission has begun. Licensed Customs brokers will have until February 28, 2021, to file a status report with CBP.
Every three years, licensed brokers must pay a fee of $100 when filing a status report with CBP. They must include whether they meet the requirements of 19 CFR § 111.11 and 111.19 and verify they have not taken part in any misconduct that could result in suspension. They must also state in a status report if they are “actively engaged” in CBP business, meaning they are “currently transacting or have recently transacted CBP business on behalf of others as a sole proprietor…” (CBP).
If the Triennial Status Report is not submitted on time, Customs brokers will have their licenses suspended and is subject to being revoked.
Brokers can submit their Status Reports online through the eCBP portal.
According to the final rule published in the Federal Register on December 23, 2020, The U.S. Department of Commerce put into effect a new system- Aluminum Import Monitoring and Analysis (AIM). Beginning on January 25, 2021, licenses will now be required in order to import all Aluminum covered products.
This new system will be similar to the Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis System (SIMA). Therefore, users who have an existing SIMA account can apply for their aluminum licenses there. If you already have a steel license, you may not add aluminum HTS codes. Instead, you must apply for a distinct aluminum license. The aluminum license form will become available on January 4, 2021.
New users can create an account here.
Learn more about the new AIM system here.
On November 7, 2019 the Office of the U.S. Representative (USTR) released a notice granting and additional 36 exclusions from the 301 China duties.
Prior, on October 28, 2019, the Federal Register notice (84 FR 57802) was issued notating that these exclusions would be retroactive to September 24, 2018 and extends through August 7, 2020.
CBP also issued CSMS #40564257, dated November 8th, 2019, providing guidance on filing List 3 product exclusions. Per the CSMS, the exclusions are available for any product that meets the description as set out in Annex A to Federal Register Notice 84 FR 57803, regardless of whether the importer filed an exclusion request. Further, the scope of each exclusion is governed by the scope of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) 10-digit headings and product descriptions in the Annex; not by the product descriptions set out in any particular request for exclusion.
As a reminder, for refunds, post-summary correction (PSC) filings can be made by the importer directly or any licensed broker; not just party who filed the original entry.
On September 28, 2019, CBP deployed the new Entry Type 86 for Section 321 (low-valued shipments) through ACE.
Trade users will benefit from this enhancement by being able to now electronically transmit low-valued shipment data to Customs. Using entry type 86 transaction, which includes importer and/or consignee information, the entry is transmitted via the Automated Broker Interface (ABI) into ACE, and filers will receive electronic release messages back from CBP for these low value shipments.
Filing an entry type 86 to obtain release of low-valued Section 321 shipments is only a test; it is not mandatory. All current Section 321 clearance processes remain in effect.
What will change in ACE?
Technical questions about the new entry Type 86 functionality can be addressed by a Client Representative or the ACE Account Service Desk (ASD) at 1-866-530-4172 or ACE.Support@cbp.dhs.gov.
A Test Notice was published in the Federal Register on August 13, 2019.
CBP Technical Resources can be found here.
CustomsNow offers this functionality. Contact us for questions!
With the transition to ACE over the last few years, one of the big benefits was the improvement of the Post Summary Corrections(PSC) filing process. With that, importers were looking forward to correcting entries quickly, easily, and less-expensively, regardless of the original filer.
However, last year, CustomsNow identified a bug in ACE which was preventing importers from filing a PSC for an entry that was originated by their 3rd party broker. We worked closely with CBP to help resolve, and finally, we’re happy to announce that this issue was recently fixed.
Now, many of our import clients are centralizing their correction process by either self-filing PSCs directly with Customs or by using CNI consulting to file on their behalf. This is especially helpful to manage refunds for those lucky enough to have a China Section 301 Exclusion or other refund situation.
The process is simple; run an ACE report, make corrections to the data, upload using CNI’s Import Upload Tool, and transmit to CBP. Results are returned in seconds and ACE data is updated immediately. There is even an “Accelerated Liquidation Requested” box for refunds to request that the entry liquidate within the 2-week cycle. Any follow up requests for documents from CBP are simply uploaded and transmitted via DIS. Learn more here.
If you’d like to discuss, please contact us at sales@customsnow.com.
Sincerely, CustomsNow™
According to this Federal Register notice, CBP is proposing amendments to the current broker verification regulations, and WOW!, it’s going to be a lot of additional work for the broker. This proposed amendment will require customs brokers to collect certain information from importers to enable the broker to verify the identity of an importer.
CBP believes this additional scrutiny will help to prevent fraud and impede the creation of shell companies by importers looking to evade CBP laws.
The following information is what CBP is suggesting, at minimum:
The comment period is open to the public until October 15th, 2019 and may be submitted through the Federal eRulemaking Portal here.
The September Trade Support Network (TSN) monthly meeting featured speakers from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and our own Nic Adams, VP Client Services for CustomsNow, was there.
The CPSC representatives announced that in late Fall, 2019, they will be deploying functionality that will link their Risk Assessment Methodology system, known as ITDS/RAM, with ACE to further coordinate efforts with CBP and the trade community regarding examination and disposition results. This represents the culmination of 2 years of work with CBP to achieve the first phase, Hold Request and Conditional Release Coordination.
This first step in integrating with ACE will allow CPSC to more effectively notify CBP of shipments that are of concern and may require an examination in order to ensure the product is safe for consumers. (Today they manually notify CBP Officers of shipments they wish held.) They explained there are over 300 HTS numbers that they have identified as high-risk. The list of HTS numbers is not readily available but general product categories. Learn more details about this new program here. TSN members strongly suggested they work with CBP to flag those HTS numbers as other PGAs generally do.
The CPSC uses the entry data primarily to identify high-risk shipments and, therefore, their review cannot begin until the entry is filed. They will not receive the entry details from CBP until the entry has been filed and the conveyance has been ‘arrived’ by the carrier.
Nic asked, “If a shipment is ‘Under Review’, should the filer upload the commercials to ACE’s Digital Imaging System (DIS) right away”? The answer was “No”, and if the CPSC believes the commercial documents may be of value, they will contact the filer and request the documents.
This process is like the one employed today by CBP-Agriculture, who do not receive PGA data from the filer. Rather, they review manifests for products that may cause harm to U.S. agriculture. Please see the CPSC Participation in 1USG Notification Messaging at Import, attached, for more.
Contact CustomsNow if you have any questions @ sales@customsnow.com.
The U.S. puts in place the latest tariff increase – here’s what you need to know…
As announced on August 30th, 2019 in a Notice of Modification of Action from the Office of the United States Trade Representatives, additional 301 tariffs are now in place. For products covered by Annex A of the August 20, 2019 Federal Register notice, the rate of additional duty will be 15 percent on the current effective date of September 1, 2019. For products covered by Annex C of the August 20 notice, the rate of additional duty will be 15 percent on the current effective date of December 15, 2019.
For questions about this action, contact Associate General Counsel Arthur Tsao, Assistant General Counsel Megan Grimball, or Director of Industrial Goods Justin Hoffmann at (202) 395–5725. For questions on Customs classification or implementation of additional duties on products identified in the Annexes to this notice, email Customs at traderemedy@cbp.dhs.gov.
See the list of HTS numbers covered by the Sept 1st increase here.
According to CBP, due to inflation the minimum and maximum amount for MPF (Merchandise Processing Fee) for CBP fiscal year 2020 will change starting October 1st.
The MPF ad valorem rate of 0.3464% will not change, however the minimum and maximum amounts on formal entries will change as follows:
A complete list of CBP fees for FY2020 can be found in the Federal Register Notice here.