August 11, 2021 | Ivana Gavroski Customs Compliance Manager
Last week, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Office of Field Operations–Detroit held their 10th Annual Trade Week, a three-day virtual event to provide updates on CBP trade priorities and policies. This year’s agenda featured eleven diverse topics, including intellectual property rights, forced labor, and even a demonstration on how to detect pests in wood packaging materials (WPM).
Of the topics discussed, we are going to look at a few that could potentially save you time and money while mitigating risks to your supply chain.
While e-commerce has been steadily increasing for decades, the COVID-19 pandemic drastically fueled an increase in e-commerce sales as more people became accustomed to shopping from home.
An estimated 80% of Americans currently shop using one or more e-commerce platforms. According to U.S. Department of Commerce estimates, e-commerce sales for the first quarter of 2021 increased 39.1% from the first quarter of 2020, accounting for 13.6% of total sales.
The surge in e-commerce over the years lead to CBP developing the Section 321 and Type 86 entry pilots in 2019. Both programs allow for qualifying shipments, valued at $800 or less, to be exempt from duties, taxes, and fees, also known as “de minimis” entry.
However, unlike the current processing of Section 321 shipments, Type 86 entries can be cleared in advance for all modes of transport, including shipments regulated by Partner Government Agencies (PGAs), such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). As a result, Type 86 entries expedite the clearance process and save money.
Your goods may qualify for Type 86 if the following requirements are met:
Since its launch in 2019, the Type 86 pilot has been tremendously successful with over 200 million entries filed through January of 2021. CBP plans to further develop Type 86 as popularity grows for this low-value entry type.
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and passenger travel bans, CBP has detected a dramatic increase in narcotics smuggling seizures, mostly of Canadian-grown marijuana in commercial shipments entering through several northern land border ports. Unfortunately, the victims of these seizures have been importers and highway carriers.
CBP alerted members of the Customs and Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (CTPAT) program in 2020, advising to reassess the risk of shipments coming from Canada. As seizures continue to increase into 2021, CBP has further advised to take the following actions to mitigate vulnerabilities:
CTPAT members should also consider implementing minimum security criteria to mitigate risks. Some of the key recommendations include:
Antidumping and Countervailing Duty (AD/CVD) continues to be one of CBP’s Priority Trade Initiatives (PTIs) with enforcement increasing every year. As of July 2021, CBP has enforced over 625 orders on approximately 191 products originating from 59 countries.
CBP has already begun to enforce 83 new orders in 2021, almost double the amount of new cases from the prior 2020 fiscal year of 45 orders. By country, China is subject to the most orders with 225, followed by India with 57 orders. By product, over half of all orders are steel and steel-related products.
One of the common questions addressed during trade week was how the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) number pertains to the AD/CVD scope. Each AD/CVD order contains a narrative description that defines the scope of the covered merchandise. The order references the HTS classification of the goods subject to the order for convenience only. The scope language, not the HTS numbers, determines whether a product falls under the scope of an AD/CVD order.
CBP further noted that the most valuable partners in AD/CVD enforcement are the representatives from domestic industries that contribute by:
A list of current AD/CVD orders that are in effect can be found on CBP’s website.
If you have any questions about Detroit’s CBP Trade Week or any other topic, please do not hesitate to contact your C.H. Robinson commercial representative or connect with one of our trade policy experts.