Every Monday we post the highlights out of last week’s FCC Export/Import Daily Update (“The Daily Bugle”). Send out every business day to approximately 10,000 readers of changes to defense and high-tech trade laws and regulations, The Daily Bugle is a free daily newsletter from Full Circle Compliance, edited by James E. Bartlett III and Elina Tsapouri.
We check the following sources daily: Federal Register, Congressional Record, Commerce/AES, Commerce/BIS, DHS/CBP, DOE/NRC, DOJ/ATF, DoD/DSS, DoD/DTSA, FAR/DFARS, State/DDTC, Treasury/OFAC, White House, and similar websites of Australia, Canada, U.K., and other countries and international organizations. Due to space limitations, we do not post Arms Sales notifications, Denied Party listings, or Customs AD/CVD items. To subscribe, click here.
Last week’s highlights of The Daily Bugle included in this edition are:
- CBP/DHS: “Application To Use Automated Commercial Environment (ACE)”; Monday, 28 Jun 2021; Item #1
- DHS/CBP: “Retail Sales Long-Term Solution for Drawback Exports to Canada and Mexico Deployed to CERT”; Monday, 28 Jun 2021; Item #5
- Commerce/BIS Fines Patriot 3, Inc, $200,000 for Unlawful Exports; Tuesday, 29 Jun 2021; Item #4
- Commerce/ITA: “Steel and Aluminum: Trade You Can Track”; Tuesday, 29 Jun 2021; Item #5
- DHS/CBP: “Quarterly IRS Interest Rates Used in Calculating Interest on Overdue Accounts and Refunds on Customs Duties”; Wednesday, 30 Jun 2021; Item #1
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CBP/DHS: “Application To Use Automated Commercial Environment (ACE)”
(Source: Federal Register, 28 Jun 2021)
86 FR 34029: Notice
* AGENCY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland Security.
* ACTION: 30-Day notice and request for comments; extension of an existing collection of information.
* SUMMARY: The Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection will be submitting the following information collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). The information collection is published in the Federal Register to obtain comments from the public and affected agencies.
* DATES: Comments are encouraged and must be submitted (no later than July 28, 2021) to be assured of consideration.
* ADDRESSES: Written comments and/or suggestions regarding the item(s) contained in this notice should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain . Find this particular information collection by selecting “Currently under 30-day Review-Open for Public Comments” or by using the search function.
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DHS/CBP: “Retail Sales Long-Term Solution for Drawback Exports to Canada and Mexico Deployed to CERT”
(Source: DHS/CBP)
Please be advised that the programming change related to Retail Sales for Drawback as it relates to the United States, Mexico, and Canada Free Trade Agreement (USMCA) deployed to the Certification (CERT) environment on June 24, 2021. The Production (PROD) deployment date is tentatively scheduled for July 8, 2021. A CSMS will be posted when the PROD deployment date is confirmed.
The change will include a new Retail Sales Indicator for Drawback provision codes 56 and 70 in position 77 of the 10-Record of the Drawback CATAIR. Per the regulations for USMCA, Drawback claims for provision codes 56 and 70 are not allowed to use substitution if the country of export is Canada (CA) or Mexico (MX). The parameters for the new provision code are as follows:
- An ‘X’ in position 77 indicates that a Substitution Drawback claim is being filed for Drawback provision codes 56 and 70.
- No ‘X’ in position 77, will indicate that a Direct Identification claim is being filed for provision codes 56 and 70.
- An ‘X’ in position 77 of the 10-Record, and if the Country of Export is CA or MX, the filer will receive an error message.
- An ‘X’ in position 77 of the 10-Record, and if the Country of Export is neither CA nor MX, the claim will be accepted (provided there are no other errors on the Drawback submission).
For any technical questions regarding this update, please contact your ABI Client Representative.
Policy questions: Drawback: OTDRAWBACK@cbp.dhs.gov
Drawback Policy Website: https://www.cbp.gov/trade/programs-administration/entry-summary/drawback-overview
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Commerce/BIS Fines Patriot 3, Inc, $200,000 for Unlawful Exports
(Source: Commerce/BIS)
* Respondent: Patriot 3, Inc, of Fredericksburg, VA
* Case #: E2670
* Charges: One violation of 15 CFR 764.2(c), Acting with knowledge of a violation; by selling and transferring one pair of maritime jet boots with underwater propulsion systems to Russia without required export authorization.
* Voluntary Self-Disclosure: Not indicated
* Consent Agreement: Yes
* Penalty: $200,000 fine
* Debarred from exporting: Not if fine is paid.
* Date of Order: 28 June 2021
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Commerce/ITA: “Steel and Aluminum: Trade You Can Track”
(Source: Tradeology, 28 Jun 2021)
* Author: Eric Anderson, International Trade Specialist, Enforcement Compliance Office of Communications
While you may not regularly think about it, there are few commodities more ubiquitous in our lives than steel and aluminum. From consumer electronics to aerospace technology, we are constantly surrounded by products that contain these two important metals. In fact, that device you are using right now is made of steel; and that can of carbonated water in your hand is made from aluminum. In 2020, the United States was the world’s fifth largest producer of crude steel and the ninth largest producer of primary aluminum. As such, the global steel and aluminum trade impacts our everyday lives and, as a result, has great national importance.
Even though we produce a lot of steel and aluminum domestically, the United States’ large domestic market almost always needs more than it can supply. To bridge the shortage, many different types of steel and aluminum are imported into the U.S. market. But where does all of this imported steel and aluminum come from? To get a closer look at how these commodities enter the U.S. market, ITA’s Enforcement and Compliance (E&C) business unit developed Steel and Aluminum Import Monitors, which are unique tools that provide greater transparency in trade flows and import trends for these iconic industries.
Members of the public are now able to see where imports of aluminum were produced thanks to our new interactive tool, the Aluminum Import Monitor (AIM). On June 28, 2021, importers of aluminum will be required to apply for a free license which will include information such as type of product, country of origin, and value or volume, etc. These license data will be integrated into the monitor, in aggregate, to provide the same early indicators to changing import trends as the Steel Import Monitor. Data obtained through the program will help identify surges in imports of specific aluminum products, including possible anomalies in the trade of aluminum products subject to import duties, which bolsters the effectiveness of existing trade remedy measures. The AIM also allows users to obtain and analyze data in the form of graphs, maps, and tables
The sister program to AIM, our Steel Import Monitor, for nearly two decades has provided the public with near real-time aggregate data on steel mill imports into the United States. This monitoring tool assists E&C and the steel industry, for example, in identifying import trends and changes as well as potential circumvention and evasion. With these numbers, steel industry watchers are able to pick up on any early indicators of import trends, and make important business decisions. Earlier this year, E&C enhanced the original version of this dashboard by using additional data collected through the steel licenses to provide more product level detail to platform users.
This innovative, first-of-its-kind tool displays data from Commerce’s new ‘melt and pour’ dashboard, which has recently been unveiled and available to the public. The supply chain view in the dashboard shows where U.S. imported steel was first produced and where it was further processed into the imported steel mill product. Just like how “farm to table” is all about knowing where food comes from, the melt and pour dashboard enables users to get a glimpse at the supply chain of steel.
These monitoring tools provide E&C with more data about the supply chain of finished steel imports into the United States. This data aids E&C’s ability to monitor for anomalies in trade patterns, which can help E&C and the domestic manufacturers to identify potential transshipment and circumvention of U.S. antidumping and countervailing duty orders, which are an important remedy that protects American businesses and workers from unfairly traded foreign products.
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DHS/CBP: “Quarterly IRS Interest Rates Used in Calculating Interest on Overdue Accounts and Refunds on Customs Duties”
(Source: Federal Register, 30 Jun 2021) [Excerpts]
86 FR 34774: Notice
* AGENCY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland Security.
* ACTION: General notice.
* SUMMARY: This notice advises the public that the quarterly Internal Revenue Service interest rates used to calculate interest on overdue accounts (underpayments) and refunds (overpayments) of customs duties will remain the same from the previous quarter. For the calendar quarter beginning July 1, 2021, the interest rates for overpayments will be 2 percent for corporations and 3 percent for non-corporations, and the interest rate for underpayments will be 3 percent for both corporations and non-corporations. This notice is published for the convenience of the importing public and U.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel.
* DATES: The rates announced in this notice are applicable as of July 1, 2021.