Perspectives on Customs & Import Compliance

A new duty evasion investigation process, implemented through interim regulations issued by Customs and Border Protection on August 22, has the potential to be a game changer for a lot of importers.

US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has been directed by Congress to be much more aggressive in enforcing the customs laws. This has led to CBP starting a number of new initiatives and procedures to target and take action on what it deems to be “high risk” transactions.

The summer heat has not been confined to the weather. US Customs and Border Protection is warming up the import world with more audits and enforcement actions.

Two China-based clothing manufacturers, Motives Far East and Motives China Limited, and their affiliated US importer, Motives, Incorporated, agreed to pay nearly $13.4 million for engaging in a double invoicing scheme designed to defraud the US out of millions of dollars in customs duties.

US Customs and Border Protection has been directed by Congress to be much more aggressive in policing antidumping and countervailing duty orders.

New provisions in the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 arm the government with new enforcement tools that rights holders can use to bolster intellectual property right (IPR) protection, especially for semiconductor components.

On April 26, 2016, United States Steel Corporation filed a massive trade case accusing Chinese steel producers and their distributors of conspiring to fix prices, steal trade secrets and use false labeling to avoid trade duties.

Buried among all the provisions arming the government with new enforcement tools in the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 are a handful of benefits which, if applied correctly and appropriately, could save importers money. 

The Trade Facilitation and Enforcement Act of 2015 repealed the “consumptive demand” exemption to the ban on imports made by “forced labor.” The repeal became effective on March 10, 2016.

On February 24, 2016, President Obama signed the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015, H.R. 644 (Customs Reauthorization Bill), into law.

At long last, after two plus years of debate, last week the Senate finally passed the Trade Facilitation and Enforcement Act of 2015 (2015 Trade Enforcement Act).

This alert brings you recent developments affecting importers at US Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The developments affect how importer information is filed with CBP.

International trade events continue to occur at break neck speed. The Toronto International Auto Show takes place later this week, on the heels of the signing of the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) in New Zealand.

Iran and the United States, along with Russia, China, France, the UK, and Germany announced that they have reached an agreement on the key parameters for a Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action regarding the Iran nuclear program in exchange for the termination of certain sanctions.

Based on recent votes in Congress, the possibility of a partial shutdown of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) activities for at least a brief period of time is looming larger. On February 27, 2015, Congress extended DHS funding for one week.

The long-awaited final Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) provisions modifying the Human Trafficking regulations were published on January 29, 2015.

In September 2014, Arent Fox reported about a US court case with which every corporate officer of a company doing business in the United States should become familiar.

In 2014, the Departments of State and Commerce implemented final rules that overhauled 11 United States Munitions List (USML) Categories. These changes have affected a wide range of industries.

The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control and the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security released their much-anticipated regulations governing trade with Cuba, and they were published in the Federal Register and became effective on January 16, 2015.

Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade, and Development announced an enhanced Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy when it released a report entitled “Doing Business the Canadian Way: A Strategy to Advance Corporate Social Responsibility in Canada’s Extractive Sector Abroad.”

US Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP’s) Office of Regulatory Audit will be hosting a webinar on Thursday, October 9, 2014 from 2:00 pm–3:30 pm Eastern Time to provide an overview of its Focused Assessment (FA) Program.

After announcing planned additional sanctions in the energy and military end-use sectors, the European Union and the United States both made good on their promises.

The US Department of Justice recently announced that Fokker Services BV (FSBV), a Dutch aerospace services provider, agreed to forfeit $10.5 million to the United States.

Robust compliance programs are the best defense to a False Claims Act investigation.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced that reporting companies are not required to describe their products as “DRC conflict free,” having “not been found to be ‘DRC conflict free,’” or “DRC conflict undeterminable,” as originally required in the Conflict Minerals Rule (CMR).