The International Trade Commission posted the 2024 Basic Edition of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule. The new HTS implements the restoration of AGOA benefits for Mauritania and their removal for the Central African Republic, Gabon, Niger and Uganda, as well as a lengthy list of 10-digit-level changes for fruits and vegetables, chemicals, medicaments and recycled aluminum. Changes were effective as of Jan. 1 unless otherwise noted.
CBP found that two sets of documents didn't establish proof of exportation for drawback purposes, in a ruling it recently released. The agency said one of the documents provided by a customs broker failed to establish the identity of the exporter and both sets failed to prove the fact of exportation.
The Federal Maritime Commission finalized several changes to its rules for carrier automated tariffs, including one that would bar carriers from charging a fee to access their tariff systems and others that aim to increase transparency around certain “pass-through” charges assessed to shippers. The FMC also abandoned a proposed change that would have required the documentation for a broader range of containers to include the name of all non-vessel operating common carriers with touchpoints to that cargo, a proposal that faced strong opposition from multiple trade groups and logistics companies.
Action camera maker GoPro Inc.'s camera housings are camera parts and not cases, the Court of International Trade ruled Dec. 28, allowing them to enter the U.S. duty-free.
The Treasury Department published its fall 2023 regulatory agenda for CBP. The agenda includes a new mention of a proposed rule to amend CBP’s regulations on the entry of “certain low-value shipments not exceeding $800 that are eligible for an administrative exemption from duty and tax.”
China sanctioned American compliance risk advisory firm Kharon, a Kharon researcher and a researcher at the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission in reaction to recent U.S. sanctions announced on Human Rights Day earlier this month (see 2312080026).
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More than 400 products that are excluded from Section 301 tariffs will continue to enter under normal duties through May 31, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced Dec. 26. The exclusions had been scheduled to end at the end of this year.
The Biden administration is expanding its ban on importing certain Russian seafood and diamonds so that seafood caught in Russian waters or by Russia's fishing fleet but processed elsewhere, including in China, will be banned. The ban on industrial diamonds also has expanded so that those diamonds, if incorporated into goods in another country, also are banned.
A customs broker can’t hire an unlicensed company to key in data on entry filings, even if the entries themselves are vetted and transmitted by the broker, CBP said in a recent ruling.