A recent ruling analyzed whether certain functions performed in preparation for filing an entry with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) arise to the level of “Customs Business” that must be performed by a licensed broker. Ruling HQ H326926, issued to Heizwerthy Customs & Freight Solutions (“Heizwerthy”), states that allowing an unlicensed company to extract
On December 8, 2023, Senators Bill Cassidy and Sheldon Whitehouse introduced a new version of the Customs Modernization bill to amend the Tariff Act of 1930. The new proposal comes over two years after Senator Cassidy initially proposed draft legislation, which we explained in a prior post. The most recent proposed bill aims to
The Department of Homeland Security announced on December 8, 2023 that it is adding three entities to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (“UFLPA”) Entity List, the consolidated register of four lists required by section 2(d)(2)(B)(ii) of the UFLPA. The UFLPA and its Entity List are explained in more detail in a prior post.
In a September 6, 2023 opinion issued by Judge M. Miller Baker in three cases brought under the Court’s residual jurisdiction provision, 28 U.S.C. § 1581(i), the U.S. Court of International Trade (“CIT”) held that reliquidation is available as a remedy in Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”) cases. At least in the short term, this decision creates
On September 6, 2023, the United States Trade Representative (“USTR”) announced that it will extend 352 reinstated exclusions and 77 COVID-related exclusions to duties imposed on goods from China pursuant to Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. The USTR imposed Section 301 duties in four tranches or “lists,” and it established a process
On July 26, 2023, the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force (“FLETF”) issued the first annual update to its guidelines for enforcing the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevent Act (“UFLPA”) in a Report to Congress titled “2023 Updates to the Strategy to Prevent the Importation of Goods Mined, Produced, or Manufactured with Forced Labor in the People’s
The Department of Homeland Security announced on August 1, 2023, that it is adding three entities to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (“UFLPA”) Entity List, the consolidated register of four lists required by section 2(d)(2)(B) of the UFLPA.
In an opinion issued on July 27, 2023, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (“Federal Circuit”) held that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) violated an importer’s due process rights by denying access to business confidential information relied on in making its final evasion determination under the Enforce and Protect Act of 2015 (“EAPA”). This decision marks a major victory for importers and foreign producers accused of transshipments and other forms of evasion, and it has significant implications for enforcement actions brought by CBP under EAPA and other statutory regimes, such as the Uyghur Forced Labor Protection Act (“UFLPA”).
On June 13, 2023 a bipartisan group of Senators on the Finance Committee released an open letter requesting input from the trade community on how to modernize U.S. customs laws to ensure the U.S. remains competitive in the global market. The letter highlights four specific topics on which they are seeking feedback: (1) improving trade
On June 7, 2023, Senators Sherrod Brown and Todd Young introduced the Leveling the Playing Field 2.0 Act, which would amend that Tariff Act of 1930 to give the U.S. Department of Commerce (“Commerce”) and Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) broader power to address unfair trade practices. A substantially similar companion bill was introduced in