The Daily Bugle Weekly Highlights: Week 53 (28 Dec 2020 – 1 Jan 2021)

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 8,500 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, Salvatore Di Misa, 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:

1. Commerce/BIS: “EAR is Amended to Revise Country Groups for Ukraine, Mexico, and Cyprus”; Monday, 28 Dec 2020; Item #1
2. USTR: “Product Exclusion Extensions and Additional Modifications: China’s Acts, Policies, and Practices Related to Technology Transfer, Intellectual Property, and Innovation”; Tuesday, 29 Dec 2020; Item #2
3. DHS/CBP: “Tariff Provisions in the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill Act of 2018 due to Expire on 31 Dec 2020”; Tuesday, 29 Dec 2020; Item #6
4. Justice/ATF: “Objective Factors for Classifying Weapons With ‘Stabilizing Braces’; Withdrawal of Guidance”; Thursday, 31 Dec 2020; Item #1
5. Commerce/Census: “Schedule B and Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) Updated in the Automated Export System (AES)”; Thursday, 31 Dec 2020; Item #5

 

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Commerce/BIS: “EAR is Amended to Revise Country Groups for Ukraine, Mexico, and Cyprus”

(Source: Federal Register) [Excerpts]

 

85 FR 84211: Rule

* AGENCY: Bureau of Industry and Security, Commerce.

* ACTION: Final rule.

* SUMMARY: In this rule, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) amends the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to revise the Country Group designations for Ukraine, Mexico and Cyprus. Specifically, in this rule, BIS moves Ukraine from Country Group D to Country Group B and adds Mexico and Cyprus in Country Group A:6. This rule also includes conforming changes.

* DATES: Effective December 28, 2020.

* FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Patricia Muldonian, Office of National Security and Technology TransferControls, Patricia.Muldonian@bis.doc.gov.

 

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USTR: “Product Exclusion Extensions and Additional Modifications: China’s Acts, Policies, and Practices Related to Technology Transfer, Intellectual Property, and Innovation” 

(Source: Federal Register) [Excerpts]

 

85 FR 85831: Notice

* AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR).

* ACTION: Notice of product exclusion extensions and additional modifications.

* SUMMARY: In prior notices, the U.S. Trade Representative modified the action in the Section 301 investigation of China’s acts, policies, and practices related to technology transfer, intellectual property, and innovation by excluding from additional duties certain medical-care products needed to address the COVID-19 outbreak. On March 25, 2020, the U.S. Trade Representative sought public comment on additional modifications in this investigation in order to address COVID-19. This notice announces the U.S. Trade Representative’s determination to extend certain product exclusions and to make further modifications to remove Section 301 duties from additional medical-care products to address COVID-19.

* DATES: The product exclusion extensions announced in this notice will extend the exclusions through March 31, 2021. The modifications to exclude additional products will apply as of January 1, 2021 until March 31, 2021. U.S. Customs and Border Protection will issue instructions on entry guidance and implementation.  . . . 

 

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DHS/CBP: “Tariff Provisions in the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill Act of 2018 due to Expire on 31 Dec 2020”

(Source: DHS/CBP, 28 Dec 2020)

 

This notice is to inform the Trade that the duty suspensions and reductions, pursuant to H.R. 4813, The Miscellaneous Tariff Bill Act of 2018 (MTB), for goods entered or withdrawn from a warehouse for consumption on or after October 13, 2018, will expire on December 31, 2020.

On September 13, 2018, the President signed into law the H.R. 4318. This MTB amends the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) to suspend and reduce tariffs on 1,660 products (see attachment) through December 31, 2020. The amendments are pursuant to the new process established in the American Manufacturing and Competitiveness Act of 2016 (H.R. 4923 / P.L. 114-159).

The MTB provisions expiring on December 31, 2020, are in the HTSUS subchapter II to chapter 99. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Office of Trade, Trade Transformation Office (TTO) has programmed in the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) the change to be effective on December 31, 2020, at 11:59 pm, EST.  . . . 

 

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Justice/ATF: “Objective Factors for Classifying Weapons With ‘Stabilizing Braces’; Withdrawal of Guidance” 

(Source: Federal Register) [Excerpts]

 

* AGENCY: Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Department of Justice.

* ACTION: Notice; withdrawal.

* SUMMARY: The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (“ATF”) is announcing the withdrawal of a notice and request for comments entitled “Objective Factors for Classifying Weapons with `Stabilizing Braces’,” that was published on December 18, 2020.

* DATES: The withdrawal is effective December 31, 2020.

* ADDRESSES:This Notice also will be made available on the ATF website (www.atf.gov).

 

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Commerce/Census: “Schedule B and Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) Updated in the Automated Export System (AES)”

(Source: Global Reach Blog, 30 Dec 2020) [Excerpts]

 

Effective immediately, the Schedule B and Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) tables have been updated to accept the changes to the January 1, 2021 codes.

AES will accept shipments with outdated codes during a grace period for 30 days beyond the expiration date of December 31^st, 2020. Reporting an outdated code after the 30-day grace period will result in a fatal error.

The ACE AESDirect program has been updated with the 2021 codes and will accept shipments with outdated codes during the grace period.

The 2021 Schedule B and HTS tables are available for downloading at:

http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/aes/documentlibrary/#concordance

Note: The list of HTS codes that are not valid for AES remains unchanged, so no update is necessary.