Automated Commercial Environment (ACE)

CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:​

CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:​

The Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) for CBP will next meet Oct. 3 in Washington, CBP said in a notice.

CBP and the Treasury Department are looking at making changes to regulations to allow for refunds for alcoholic beverage imports that are allowed a lower excise tax rate, CBP said in a CSMS message. In the meantime, "importers will continue to pay the full excise tax rate at time of entry summary filing," CBP said. President Donald Trump signed tax legislation late last year that cut excise taxes on beer, wine and distilled spirits in 2018 and 2019 (see 1712180033), though CBP has required full excise taxes as the involved agencies decide how to implement the changes (see 1801310035).

Supply chain professionals and trade group executives praised the progress U.S. government agencies have made in trade facilitation, and pointed to areas where they could still make progress, during the Global Supply Chain Summit hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on May 22. The Unified Cargo Processing pilot, which is soon expanding from seven ports of entry to nine (see 1803300020), has reduced crossing time by up to 75 percent, according to Lance Jungmeyer, president of the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas. He also talked about how private industry can help CBP be more business friendly, such as with private dollars helping to fund a 3.5-mile shortcut from the Mariposa port of entry in Nogales, Arizona, to the highway. He said they're lobbying CBP to set up a donations acceptance program to build a cold storage inspection facility at a port of entry, too. He said his group would also like to see Canada try unified cargo processing with CBP.

Immigration issues dominated an appropriations hearing for the Department of Homeland Security, but DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said she also wanted to touch quickly on trade. More money is needed to "keep foreign adversaries from stealing our intellectual property" and to enforce trade laws, she said. In prepared testimony that she did not read during the hearing, she said the president's budget "includes funding to enhance the Automated Commercial Environment and to put more attention on high-risk imports while facilitating smaller, legitimate shipments more quickly. The request also includes funding for additional attorneys, trade specialists, and financial specialists to provide adequate support for trade facilitation and enforcement activities."

CBP will be "closely monitoring importers’ compliance with the Section 232 measures," which take effect on March 23, a CBP spokesman said. "CBP will enforce the remedies imposed by the President under Section 232 on imports of steel and aluminum from covered countries into the United States," he said. "Companies will be responsible for paying the tariff while their exclusion is under consideration. Imports subject to these measures will be processed through CBP’s Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) entry processing system, which CBP uses to determine admissibility and duty requirements for imported goods."

CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:​

CBP's deployment and full use of ACE capabilities offers the biggest chance to lessen regulation and related costs, Boeing and others said in comments to CBP. The comments came in response to a CBP solicitation for input on regulations seen as deserving elimination or changes (see 1709110004). "We believe that moving to a fully paperless environment and ensuring maximum utilization of the ACE Portal will be the one achievement that will have the most significant positive effect on streamlining and reducing regulations, and for that reason it should be the priority focus of a regulatory review," Boeing said.

The Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) for CBP will next meet Nov. 14 in Washington, CBP said in a notice.