DHS published its fall 2021 regulatory agenda for CBP with only one new trade-related action mentioned. The department said it intends to consolidate the regulatory authorities over immigration ports of entry, customs ports of entry and customs stations. The DHS secretary has authority over the customs ports of entry and stations, while the CBP commissioner oversee the immigration ports of entry, it said. "CBP is exploring ways to consolidate the authority to manage the two types of ports."
USMCA
The U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement is a free trade agreement between the three countries, also known as CUSMA in Canada and T-MEC in Mexico. Replacing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 2020, the agreement contains a unique sunset provision where, after six years (in 2026), any of the three parties may decide not to continue the agreement in its current form and begin a period of up to 10 years where USMCA provisions may be renegotiated.
The Commerce Department published notices in the Federal Register Jan. 5 on the following AD/CV duty proceedings (any notices that announce changes to AD/CV duty rates, scope, affected firms or effective dates will be detailed in another ITT article):
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The Treasury Department published its fall 2021 regulatory agenda for CBP. The agenda includes a new mention of an interim final rule to implement some major provisions of the USMCA. The agency seems to have missed the listed target date of November 2021 for the interim final rule.
A Sandler Travis lawyer, looking forward to trade developments in 2022, said CBP is scheduled to issue a final rule in February for USMCA implementation, including applying the part 102 rules for nonpreferential purposes to goods produced in Canada and Mexico (see 2107010045). "This would avoid situations where goods could qualify under the USMCA as a product of Mexico, but still be hit with Section 301 tariffs," Mark Tallo said on the firm's "Two Minutes on Trade" podcast.
The National Association of Foreign-Trade Zones has long argued that barring goods produced in FTZs from qualifying for USMCA tariff benefits makes no sense, if the goods would otherwise meet rules of origin, and that the restriction puts FTZ production at a disadvantage compared to Mexican and Canadian production.
Canadian Trade Minister Mary Ng said her government has filed notice that it is bringing a state-to-state dispute under USMCA over the increase in antidumping and countervailing duties on most Canadian softwood lumber exports. The Commerce Department issued the final results of the reviews in November (see 2112020026).
The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, which has 11 member countries since the U.S. backed out in 2016, has attracted four applications this year, from the United Kingdom, Taiwan, China and, most recently, South Korea. The U.S., which took a leading role in negotiating the high-standard free trade agreement, is unlikely to ask to come back in the next two years, panelists on a Hudson Institute discussion agreed.
The ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee said Congress should take into consideration how an electric vehicle subsidy limited to American-assembled vehicles affects the trading relationships in North America, but Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, acknowledged that Republicans' views on the Build Back Better bill are irrelevant, since none of them plan to vote for it. The House version of Build Back Better gives a richer purchase incentive for U.S.-made cars from union plants, and for U.S.-origin batteries, and then limits the tax credit to U.S.-assembled cars starting in 2027.
The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated Dec. 10. The following headquarters rulings were modified recently, according to CBP: