The foreign inland freight costs in the country of export can't be deducted from the price paid or payable unless there is proof of sale for export and a through shipment from the factory, CBP said in an Oct. 27 ruling. The ruling request came from Cracker Barrel Old Country Store and sought CBP input on whether certain charges for services provided by Damco Customs Services Inc. should be included in the transaction value of the imported merchandise. The agency found that several other fees are allowed to be deducted from the transaction value.

House Ways and Means Committee member Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla., said that although “the politics of trade are fairly tricky,” she feels confident in saying “things can't get any worse” for free trade during the Biden administration. Murphy, one of two members of the House speaking on a Cato Institute webinar about what to expect in trade with a new president, said she's encouraged by President-elect Joe Biden's choices for the secretaries of the treasury and state, and the head of the National Security Council, because all of the individuals recognize that trade is an important tool in foreign policy.

The “idea of a regional” withhold release order is “certainly not out of play,” Department of Homeland Security acting Deputy Secretary Ken Cuccinelli said during a Dec. 2 conference call to announce a WRO on Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps cotton (see 2012020071). Such an action remains “legally doable,” though it takes a different “quantum of evidence to accomplish,” he said. CBP previously considered XPCC and regional WROs, but declined to go ahead with those in September (see 2009140040).

CBP issued a withhold release order on all cotton products made by the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC), acting CBP Commissioner Mark Morgan said in a Dec. 2 call with reporters. “The WRO applies to all cotton and cotton products produced by the XPCC and its subordinate and affiliated entities as well as any products that are made in whole or in part with or derived from that cotton, such as apparel, garments, and textiles,” CBP said in a news release.

The Court of International Trade on Dec. 1 sent an Enforce and Protect Act (EAPA) evasion determination back down to CBP for reconsideration, finding the agency failed to properly disclose information to the accused that it relied on to find the importer guilty of evasion. CBP’s regulations require the agency to make available public summaries of any redacted or business confidential information on the record of an EAPA investigation, but CBP did not do so during a proceeding involving Royal Brush Manufacturing, a pencil importer alleged to have transshipped Chinese pencils through the Philippines to avoid antidumping duties, CIT said.

International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from Nov. 23-27 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit granted the Commerce Department a wide berth to apply antidumping and countervailing duties to goods packaged alongside nonsubject merchandise, in a Nov. 30 decision that provoked a dissent from the appeals court’s only judge with a background in trade.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said stakeholders are telling him they appreciate his 16-month Generalized System of Preferences benefits program renewal, and that those same groups are pushing back on Democrats' desires to make revisions to eligibility requirements. Grassley said that he hasn't spoken directly to House Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., but that the trade staffs are telling him that Neal and Finance ranking member Sen. Ron Wyden's trade staff are frustrated by the GSP advocates' criticisms. He said stakeholders are telling Democrats that they are “using the GSP expiration as a hostage to achieve Democratic trade priorities,” and said he agreed with that argument.

Plastic hangers used to hold imported clothing are classifiable based on the clothing being held, CBP said in a Sept. 22 ruling. The importer, Bisma International, sought a further review of protest after CBP liquidated entries that included the hangers in subheading 6109.90.10, which covers T-shirts and other garments. Bisma argued that the plastic hangers deserved to be classified separately in a different heading. The ruling was released on Nov. 30.

After France began sending collection notices to internet companies last week for its new Digital Service Tax, according to a report in Financial Times, the U.S. and France seem headed for a collision course on taxes and tariffs. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has identified $1.3 billion worth of imports -- primarily handbags and cosmetics -- that would be hit with a 25% tariff, but delayed collecting them since France also delayed implementing the DST (see 2007130043).