A Joe Biden administration is seen by many as likely to return the U.S. to a more traditional approach to international trade, but there's much still unknown about how and when an unwinding of the Trump administration's policies would occur. Biden would be able to make meaningful changes around trade regardless of whether Republicans retain Senate control, and there is an expectation that he would undertake a “review” of Trump's trade remedies, including under sections 232 and 301, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

A license fee paid to an unrelated company for the right to use an eco-friendly resin in the manufacture of shoe insoles and other fashion accessories is dutiable, and should be added to the price paid or payable for customs valuation purposes, CBP said in a recent ruling. The license fee paid by Weyco Group to an unnamed company meets the requirements of the three-factor test for dutiability, CBP said in HQ H312455, issued Oct. 28.

The mistrust by the current administration of the de minimis exemption for low-value shipments may provide an opportunity to revise the law and address some inconsistent approaches, Bryan Wolfe, vice president-international trade at Ascena Retail Group, said during the National Association of Foreign-Trade Zones virtual conference on Nov. 6. Ascena, the parent company of Ann Taylor, Loft and other brands, is a leading member of Ship Safe Coalition, which advocates for policy changes around de minimis. The coalition expects that some coming changes to the de minimis entry process could be a time for “compromise between eliminating de minimis altogether and keeping it as is,” Wolfe said in his presentation.

There are no imminent plans to continue a “restrained enforcement” period after Jan. 1 for some USMCA requirements, said Queena Fan, director of the CBP USMCA Center. Fan, who said she began in that role about two weeks ago, spoke Nov. 4 during National Association for Foreign-Trade Zones virtual conference. “As of right now, plan still is Jan. 1,” she said. Still, “I'm not saying it's set in stone” if other issues come up and industry concerns should be brought to CBP. The agency is using a period of enforced compliance that ends Jan. 1 for some USMCA provisions, while the auto sector has a longer period of informed compliance that is set to end July 1, 2021.

Face masks made in Ethiopia from fabric and other materials sourced from Thailand are products of Thailand, and are not eligible for duty benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act, CBP said in a ruling issued Oct. 22 and posted to the agency’s online database on Nov. 2.

CBP's information collection for commercial invoices “indicates that there is a transaction with a price already agreed upon that the foreign seller and U.S. buyer will pay,” but that's not always true, the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America said in comments to CBP on a proposed extension of the information collection (see 2009290038). “There often are shipments that are consigned, leased, etc. where the parties have not established a price to be paid and other commercial invoice information may not be available,” the association said. NCBFAA suggested that CBP's regulations should instead “require all the information normally provided on a commercial invoice on an as needed basis and when appropriate to the transaction.”

International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from Oct. 26-30 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said a renewal of the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program could happen either by packaging the bill with an omnibus spending bill, or, if Congress just passes another temporary spending bill, by attachment to a tax extenders bill.

Oregon Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden's harsh words on USMCA (see 2010300046) would have even more significance if the Democrats are able to take the majority in the Senate with the Nov. 3 election. Dan Ujczo, a close USMCA watcher and partner at Dickinson Wright in Ohio, said lawyers from his firm were talking about Wyden's letter with people in both Mexico and the U.S. He said he sees it more as a political document at the moment. “It’s pretty amazing that USMCA hasn’t been a large factor in the election,” Ujczo said. He said he thought both Democrats and Republicans would claim victory on the NAFTA rewrite, but instead, the election has barely touched on trade, and has been focused mostly on the COVID-19 pandemic and President Donald Trump.

The government must go beyond merely asserting intentional misclassification even when dealing with a nonresponsive defendant, Court of International Trade Judge Mark Barnett said in an Oct. 30 ruling. The Department of Justice requested a default judgment in a case against NYWL Enterprises. DOJ alleged that the company purposefully and misclassified 107 entries of Siamese coaxial cable, and sought “a penalty in the amount of $3,760,070.00 (equal to eight times the total lost revenue) plus interest" for fraud.