Customs Revises Current Detention Policy for ISA Importers of Apparel

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (Customs, CBP) issued Textile Book Transmittal (TBT) 07-021 on November 13, 2007, changing the current detention policy for certain apparel goods imported by companies participating in the Import Self Assessment (ISA) program. The goods will no longer be detained upon importation awaiting production and inspection of documents, but instead will be granted conditional release, and documents will be verified post-release. Prior to this new policy, shipments could be detained based on results of visits by Customs Textile Production Verification Teams (TPVT) to overseas manufacturers if the TPVT findings warranted detention of goods originating with that manufacturer. The TBT describes the process and sets forth the conditions to be met to obtain conditional release. These conditions require that the importer be an ISA participant, and that the manufacturer not be barred from the detention exception policy for having falsely declared a country of origin, being closed at the time of the TPVT visit, or having never existed. Once conditionally released, Customs will request production records to confirm country of origin and work with the importer to ensure compliant submission of documentation. The ISA participant may either hold the goods until Customs ensures admissibility or continue to move the goods to destination. If Customs finds that the documents substantiate the importer's claim of country of origin, no further action is needed. However, as the TBT states, "if the documents fail to prove production or if the importer does not submit the requested documents, the merchandise, though conditionally released, is deemed inadmissible, and a redelivery notice is to be issued to exclude the merchandise." In such case that production information cannot be verified, Customs will assess damages and take other punitive measures.

TACA to Maintain Current Bunker Adjustment Factor

The Trans-Atlantic Conference Agreement (TACA) issued a press release November 12, 2007, announcing that its member carriers will increase their current Bunker Adjustment Factor (BAF), effective December 16, 2007. "With the latest monitoring of fuel prices showing significant escalation since TACA's previous adjustment in September of this year," TACA stated in the release, "an adjustment of TACA's BAF has been triggered with effect from December 16th, 2007 through, at least, January 15th, 2008, at the following levels: "Traffic to/from and via: "Atlantic/Gulf Coast Ports: ¡¤ "$752 (USD) per 20ft container ¡¤ "$1504 per 40/45ft container ¡¤ "WM $75.00 "Pacific Coast Ports: ¡¤ "$1128 per 20ft container ¡¤ "$2256 per 40/45ft container ¡¤ "WM $113.00" The release listed the TACA Parties as: Atlantic Container Line A.B., Maersk Line, Mediterranean Shipping Co., Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) Line and Orient Overseas Container Line.

Vietnam and Singapore to Build International Port

The Saigon Times reported on October 16, 2007 that construction of an international container terminal in Vietnam's southern coast province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau has begun. The port , SP-PSA International Port Co Ltd, is a collaboration between the Saigon Port and the Port of Singapore Authority (PSA), a wholly-owned unit of the Singapore port operator. The port will be built in two phases with a first section to be operational in 2009. The first phase includes construction of a 600-meter wharf that can receive 75,000-ton vessels and 28 hectares of container grounds which can handle 1.1 million TEUs per year. The second phase of the construction will be equal in size to the first. When both phases are fully completed, SP-PSA International Port will have a projected annual capacity of 2.2 million TEUs of containers or 25 million tons of cargo. The ports will be connected by extensive road and inland waterway networks to Ho Chi Minh City and the southern industrial area. While the expected projection of cargoes handled at the existing ports was expected to reach 53 million tons per year by 2010, the current throughput has already achieved 70 million tons annually. Current port facilities at Vietnam are experiencing an overload due to increased cargo volumes especially in the southern focal economic zone.

China Import Tariffs Reduced on Electronic Products

Asia Pulse reported on October 9, 2007 that China's Ministry of Finance (MOF) announced on its official website that China has reduced the import tariff on electronic products such as audio, video and other related electronic products. The import tax on recorded cassettes, compact and digital video disks, and floppy disks has been reduced to 13 percent from the earlier 17 percent since September 15, 2007. In 2006, statistics revealed that China's import of electronic products reached US$30.79 million, reflecting a sharp increase of nearly 80 percent compared with the previous year. China's trade surplus level stood at US$24.98 billion in August 2007 - an increase of 32.8 percent. However, the growth rate was 48.1 percent lower than in the earlier months of January through July 2007. In August, China's imports registered US$86.38 billion which is a record monthly high.

DOC Issues Final Rule on Exports to Burma

The Department of Commerce (DOC) issued Federal Register notice on October 24, 2007 announcing a final rule amending the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to move Burma into more restrictive country groupings and to impose licensing requirements for goods exporting to persons in Burma who are subject to sanctions imposed by the Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC). As stated in the notice, this action was taken consistent with Executive Orders and in response to the Government of Burma's "continued repression of the democratic opposition in Burma." The rule moves Burma from Country Group B, which designates countries raising few national security concerns, to Country Group D:1, which designates countries raising national security concerns. With this change, the number of license exceptions available for exports to Burma is reduced. Burma will remain listed in Country Group D:3, which designates countries raising proliferation concerns related to chemical and biological weapons. The rule also moves Burma from Computer Tier 1 to Computer Tier 3 classification, which "restricts access to high-performance computers and related technology and software," the notice said. The notice states that in 2006, trade between the U.S. and Burma was valued at $7.5 million. Additionally, only 14 export licenses have been approved for exports to Burma since 1997. Exports under these licenses are valued at $3.31 million and were mainly for exports in the oil sector. According to the notice, "This analysis demonstrates that this rule is not expected to impact significantly U.S. trade with Burma as a whole but is tailored to effectively prevent the benefit of trade to certain persons in Burma or related to the situation in Burma, as identified, in order to implement an important U.S. foreign policy objective."

ADD/CVD Agreement Between Mexico and China Set to Expire

According to Mexico's Diario Oficial de la Federacion (Federal Official Daily) dated August 15, 2007, an agreement negotiated between China and Mexico upon China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001 is set to expire on December 11, 2007. This will open the way for China to dispute countervailing duties which Chinese officials believe to be unrealistic based on the values of the goods, which the Mexican government has imposed on Chinese imports since 1993. According to Mexican "Ley de Comercio Exterior" (Foreign Trade Law), Mexico could pursue one of the following courses: ¡¤ Eliminate most countervailing duties on Chinese goods when the agreement expires in December. If sufficient evidence exists after six months to prove harm to the industry, Mexico may impose a reasonable countervailing duty on Chinese imports at that time. ¡¤ Mexico may wait for China to officially dispute the countervailing duties, which would likely lead to a review by the WTO. ¡¤ Mexico may conduct one-year reviews of the existing countervailing duties showing proof of harm done to the industry by below-market-value imports. At the end of one year, the results would be published in the Federal Official Daily, along with adjusted countervailing duties. Mexico can replace the existing countervailing duties with clauses knows as safeguards. These safeguards often take the form of specific duties for specified imports, import permits, or quotas. There may also be individual cases of arguments presented to the Mexican Ministry of Economy to keep the existing countervailing duties, or to have them removed entirely, depending on the clients', Mexican manufacturers' or importers' interests.

Chinese Ministry of Commerce Issues New List of Restricted Processing Trade Products

On July 25, 2007, China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) and China Customs Bureau issued a new list of restricted Processing Trade products which took effect August 23, 2007. Some Chinese manufacturers who import and use "restricted" products in their manufacturing processes are required to submit a duty deposit to Chinese Customs as a measure to help reduce and prevent illegal activities. These funds (with interest) are returned to the manufacturer once the restricted products are processed and exported. Among the types of products added to the list of restricted products are "plastic raw material and plastic processed products, yarn, textile and furniture," a press release issued by the MOFCOM announcing the new policy stated. "Altogether 1,853 tariff numbers were included in the list, accounting for 15% of all encoded customs products." The press release also says that the new list and accompanying policy "is meant to optimize [China's] exporting structure, put strong curbs on the export of 'high-polluting, high-energy-consuming and resource-dependent' products, discourage the export of low added value, low technical content products, and to reduce trade conflicts, promote trade balance, and ease the tension caused by an ever increasing trade surplus." Another goal of the policy is to draw some of the manufacturing activity in China toward the Western and Central regions by lowering barriers to the establishment of manufacturing facilities in those regions.