FTC Issues Proposes new Made in America Rules In July the Federal Trade Commission issued a Federal Register Notice (FRN) with new proposed rules for an unqualified claim that if a good was made in the United States and for the marking of goods as made in the United States. The rules were issued to clarify and hopefully simplify the requirements for an article to qualify to be marked “Made in the U.S.” by industries in the United States. Comments on the proposed rules can be accepted up to September 14. The FRN can be found by clicking here.
CBP is Having a Virtual Trade Week in September U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has announced its first Virtual Trade Week, September 8-11, 2020. Presentations by CBP Executives and industry experts will provide updates on CBP trade priorities and policies. Sessions will include USMCA, CTPAT, and issues on E-Commerce. This notice includes a link for free registration to the Virtual Trade Week. The program that was just announced can be found by clicking here.
CBP Updated Its Certificate of Origin Template U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has updated its template of a Certificate of Origin for the trade. This template can be used for several Trade agreements, not just USMCA. The use of the format is not required and is only a suggested guideline for the members of the trade to be able to develop their own documents. The template can be found on CBP’s website.
CBP Has Instructions on When Hong Kong Goods Must be Marked as China Origin U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) had issued a Federal Register Notice (FRN) dealing with President Trump’s Executive Order on Hong Kong Normalization that suspends the special privileges for Hong Kong. The order includes the requirement for Hong Kong origin goods to now be marked as “Made in China”. While this Order was effective as of July 29, 2020, CBP has allowed a transition period to change the marking. CBP originally allowed that marking changes were to be effective 45 days from the issuance of the FRN. The marking change was to be effective on September 25, 2020, however, CBP has issued CSMS message #4372936 that granted an additional 45 days to September 9 for the new marking requirements to go into effect. The marking requirement effective date applies to the date of entry and not the date of importation nor the date of exportation. The marking change is effective not only on the date of entry, but includes the date that goods are withdrawn from a warehouse for consumption. CBP has issued an FAQ on the marking requirements A copy of the FAQ can be found by clicking here.
CBP Gives Instructions that 301 Duties will Not Apply to Hong Kong Goods CBP has also included instructions that the change in marking will not affect the entry of the goods as country of origin of Hong Kong for duty purposes. As per the FAQ on the marking issued by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), goods that are products of Hong Kong should continue to report the ISC country code (HK) as country of origin. Unless there is change, the China 301 duties will not apply to Hong Kong made goods.