The renewal of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), which was signed by President Trump in late March, will go into effect April 22, 2018. CBP will begin issuing GSP refunds on qualified goods shortly after the effective date, but will not offer any interest payments. Refund requests must be submitted prior to September 19, […]

The Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) was renewed in late March and CBP is giving importers the opportunity to receive refunds from overpayment of duties, taxes, and fees electronically via Automated Clearinghouse (ACH). If already signed up for ACH Refund, refunds will be automatically deposited into your bank account. If you are NOT signed up for […]

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) released a proposed list of tariffs covering 1,300 Chinese products with a combined value of $50 billion. “Sectors subject to the proposed tariffs include industries such as aerospace, information and communication technology, robotics, and machinery,” said the USTR in a news release. The tariffs, a result of […]

President Trump has just signed the Omnibus bill, which passed through the House and Senate earlier today. As a result, the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) will be renewed and all applicable stakeholders will receive retroactive benefits within the next 90 days. Earlier today the President expressed his concerns over signing the bill and heavily […]

The proposed renewal of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) through December 31, 2020 is outlined in the Omnibus Spending Bill, which was released on Wednesday, March 21st. The 2,000 page bill has passed in both the House and Senate and now needs to be signed by President Trump. Under the Omnibus bill, GSP renewal […]

Following the recent announcement of additional tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, President Trump is now taking additional steps that could ignite a full-blown trade war with China by pushing for a hefty $50 billion in tariffs on imported Chinese goods. Trump’s concerns about the U.S.’s $375 billion trade deficit with China is fueling this […]

The U.S. Department of Commerce announced its procedures for excluding products from the recently announced tariffs on steel and aluminum product imports. As directed by President Trump, the Department published the procedures in the Federal Register and began accepting exclusion requests from U.S. industry today, Monday, March 19, 2018, at 8:45 AM. Click HERE to […]

As we shared with you yesterday, as part of the U.S. response to China’s unfair trade practices related to the forced transfer of U.S. technology and intellectual property, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) published a proposed list of products imported from China that could be subject to additional tariffs. The United States […]

Under Presidential Proclamations issued on March 8, 2018: “Steel article” imports specified in the Annex shall be subject to an additional 25 percent ad valorem rate of duty with respect to goods entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on March 23, 2018.  This rate of duty, […]

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has discovered an error in the creation of liquidation courtesy notices. Some filers received notices with errors and others did not receive notices. CBP is delaying delivery of the corrected courtesy notices until next week. All corrected notices for this week and next week will be issued on the […]

In retaliation to President Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminum imported from China, Beijing has now imposed additional tariffs on 128 food and beverage commodities imported from the U.S. The Chinese government will begin enforcing these extra tariffs on Monday, April 2nd. The tariffs will affect around $3 billion worth of U.S. products. 120 products […]

At this moment, CBP cannot make any changes or upload the new tax rates to ACE that reflects the excise tax cuts for beer, wine, and distilled spirits that took effect January 1st; they are waiting for implementation guidance from Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB). As such, importers, as well as brokers […]

Effective January 1st, the products that were once eligible for being duty-free under special program indicators “A”, “A+”, and “A*” are now subject to normal duty rates when imported. While CBP still requests that GSP eligible items are identified with an indicator, the goods are dutiable until further notice. To ensure importers receive duty refunds […]

As you may know, after several delays, it appears that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will finally be rolling out statement processing via their portal Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) on January 8, 2018. While we have every hope that this deployment proceeds without incident, it is very possible that Customs will experience glitches along the […]

The expiration of Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) is right around the corner!  Assuming the program expires, the products once eligible for being duty-free under special program indicators “A”, “A+”, and “A*” will now be subject to normal duty rates when imported. While CBP still requests that GSP eligible items are identified with an indicator, […]

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has announced that the Merchandise Processing Fee (MPF) will be adjusted for inflation effective January 1, 2018. The MPF is assessed by U.S. Customs on most imports into the U.S.  The calculation rate, which is 0.3464 percent of declared cargo value, will remain unchanged. However, the minimum MPF will […]

Midnight of December 31st, 2017 isn’t just the end of the year, it is also when the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) is set to expire. The products once eligible for being duty free under special program indicators “A”, “A+”, and “A*” will now be paying normal duty rates when imported. While CBP still requests […]

Mark your calendars! Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced July 8, 2017 as the effective date for transition to make the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) the sole electronic data interchange (EDI) system authorized by the Commissioner of CBP for processing electronic drawback, duty deferral entry and entry summary filings. After the effective date, the Automated Commercial System (ACS) will no […]

Attention food importers! The May 30 deadline to comply with FDA’s Foreign Supplier Verification Programs (FSVP) is mandatory and right around the corner. The Food Supplier Verification Program (FSVP) rule is intended to be a flexible, risk-based program to verify that foreign suppliers are producing their food in compliance with processes that meet the FDA’s […]

U.S. Customs and Border Protection will begin to implement “Establishing Enhanced Collection and Enforcement of Antidumping and Countervailing Duties and Violations of Trade and Customs Laws.” The Executive Order, signed on March 31, promotes the efficient and effective administration of U.S. Customs and trade laws by establishing enhanced measures to collect duties and a heightened enforcement […]