Mexico's Economy Secretary, Tatiana Clouthier, said she talked about Mexico's concerns about the auto rules of origin with the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, the ranking members of that committee and of the Senate Finance Committee, two other Republican senators, and four business groups, including two auto manufacturing trade groups, as well as a major aerospace manufacturer.
Country of origin cases
The United Kingdom opened a consultation period for interested parties to help shape new trading rules for developing countries, the Department for International Trade said in a July 19 news release. The proposed Developing Countries Trading Scheme would apply to 70 countries and includes lowering tariffs and simplifying rules of origin requirements for exports to the U.K., it said. The new scheme would look to take a “simpler, more generous, pro-growth approach to trading with developing countries,” the release said. The consultation period for the new rules will run for eight weeks.
Singapore Customs in a July 19 notice reminded traders of the proper information to be submitted when applying for an import or export permit. Customs agents should submit the proper eight-digit Harmonised System Code, the correct value of the declared goods in Singapore dollars based on commercial invoices and the description of the goods, including specific descriptions. Other permit fields include the units of quantity and measurement for the respective HS code, proper country of origin information, country of final destination data and preferential indicators.
The Census Bureau July 19 emailed tips on how to address the most frequent messages generated this month in the Automated Export System. Response code 531 is a fatal error for when the “Foreign/Domestic Origin Indicator” is not allowed. Census said the Foreign/Domestic Origin Indicator should not be reported when the Export Information Code is HH for household goods. The filer should verify the Export Information Code and Foreign/Domestic Origin Indicator, correct the shipment and resubmit.
The U.S. released an advisory to highlight the sanctions and export controls risks for companies doing business in Hong Kong and announced a new set of Hong Kong designations July 16. The advisory, issued by the State, Treasury, Commerce and Homeland Security departments, describes “considerations” for businesses operating in “this new legal landscape,” which includes several sanctions regimes targeting Beijing and Hong Kong.
Japan Customs published an updated list July 15 of the issuing authorities for exports' certificate of origin under the Generalized System of Preferences for North Macedonia and Afghanistan. The Economic Chamber of North Macedonia may certify a product's origin for North Macedonia, and the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Investment may do the same for Afghanistan. Japan's GSP applies reduced tariffs for imports from developing countries.
One of the obligations Canada and Mexico agreed to in the NAFTA rewrite is a ban on goods made with forced labor, but Baker McKenzie lawyers said it's not clear how much things are changing in that regard. Paul Burns, a Baker McKenzie partner in Toronto, said that while Canada has changed its law to ban the importation of goods made with forced labor, the Canadian customs agency does not disclose information about its enforcement. "We don’t know if there have been any detentions made," he said. "I expect there hasn't been."
The U.S. updated its Xinjiang Supply Chain Business Advisory, highlighting the increasing supply chain, sanctions, labor and export control risks of doing business in the Xinjiang region. The July 13 update, which builds and expands on the original advisory issued last year (see 2007010040), says China is committing genocide through its human rights violations against Muslim minorities, provides guidance to businesses that may invest in implicated Chinese companies, updates a list of U.S. enforcement actions related to Xinjiang and "strengthens" recommendations for companies that risk doing business in the region.
The House Appropriations Committee released its draft proposals for funding the Commerce Department and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. It wants to spend $577.4 million on the Commerce Department's International Trade Administration, $36.4 million more than the current fiscal year's spending, a 6.7% increase. It wants to spend $143.4 million on the Bureau of Industry and Security, up $10.4 million from the current year, a 7.8% increase.
President Joe Biden signed an executive order July 9 that calls for the Federal Maritime Commission to "consider further rulemaking to improve detention and demurrage practices and enforcement of related Shipping Act prohibitions." The FMC should also "vigorously enforce the prohibition of unjust and unreasonable practices in the context of detention and demurrage" and request recommendations on the subject from the National Shipper Advisory Committee. The EO also suggests that the U.S. Department of Agriculture "consider initiating a rulemaking to define the conditions under which the labeling of meat products can bear voluntary statements indicating that the product is of United States origin, such as 'Product of USA.'” The EO addresses a wide range of issues meant to improve and promote competition in the U.S. economy, the White House said in a fact sheet.