Space Coast World Trade Council

Brevard County, Florida

More News Stories

Space Coast World Trade Council News

Miscellaneous Trade & Technical Corrections Act of 2004

The Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act of 2004 (The Act) was signed into law by the President on December 3, 2004 as Public Law 108-429. The Act amends the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS) to modify temporarily certain rates of duty and makes other technical amendments to trade laws. Along with other changes, the Act affects CBPs trade operation primarily in two ways. Firstly, it mandates that many import entries be re-liquidated to reflect the duty changes. Secondly, it makes significant changes to many long-standing laws related to entry of merchandise, affecting such areas as liquidation, duty collection, protest, reconciliation, and drawback. The majority of the provisions contained in the Act will become law 15 days after presidential signature. For the provisions affecting protest and 1520c petitions, this means the new provisions will affect entries that are filed or withdrawn from warehouse on or after December 18, 2004.
A summary of The Act is outlined below for your information. CBP is reviewing The Act to determine necessary actions and procedures for both CBP and the trade. Further guidance and instruction will be forthcoming.
Summary of the HR 1047Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act of 2004

Title I Tariff Provisions

Section 1101 Deletion of several expired Chapter 99 subheadings

Subtitle A Temporary Duty Suspensions and Reductions

Chapters

1. New duty suspensions and reductions for a variety of products, varying effective dates and dates of expiration. For most, the effective date is the 15th day after the date of enactment of the Act, i.e. they are effective December 18, 2004. For a limited number, the effective date is specified, i.e. January 1, 2005 or January 1, 2006. The suspensions and reductions expire at varying times ranging from December 31, 2005 through December 31, 2008.

2. Extension of existing duty suspensions and reductions through December 31, 2006 eliminating the need to go through the exercise at the end of next year. Modifications of certain duty reduction provisions modify the reduced duty rate, amend cited subheadings within the provisions to accord with changes in the tariff, amend descriptive language in some provisions, and extend the duty reductions through December 31, 2006 for certain goods. Effective, unless otherwise provided, on or after January 1, 2004. Retroactive application of duty reductions provided for if proper request filed with CBP within 90 days of date of enactment of Act.

Amendment of paragraph 2 in section 1222(c) and 1223(c) of Tariff Suspension and Trade Act of 2000 effective retroactively (as if enacted immediately after enactment of Tariff Suspension and Trade Act of 2000).

Subtitle B Other Tariff Provisions

Chapters

1. Liquidation or reliquidation of certain specified entries. If owed, refunds to be paid. Some provisions specifically provide for payment of interest with refunds, but some make no mention of payment of interest. For most, liquidations or reliquidations to take place, upon proper request, within 180 days after date of enactment of Act. For some, time frame is 90 days. Some require request to be filed within 90 days of enactment of Act, but others require CBP to take action without requests.

2. Miscellaneous Provisions. Amendments to various provisions of the tariff for various purposes. In some cases, provisions are amended to provide for more specific descriptions of goods classified within a heading or to allow for a different duty rate for a good previously classified in a broader subheading. Amendments are being made to the following: (1) the provision for vessel repair duties; GSP to allow for GSP treatment for certain hand-knotted or hand-woven carpets; drawback statute (19 U.S.C. 1313); and the CBTPA to allow for duty-free treatment of certain footwear. In addition, section 1560 tasks the Commissioner of CBP with establishing Integrated Border Inspection Areas on either side of the U.S.-Canadian border; and, section 1561 provides for amendment of 19 U.S.C. 1401 to allow for foreign customs and agriculture inspection officers in the United States. Section 1561 provides for inspections and pre-clearance in foreign countries and authorizes the Secretary of State to enter into agreements with foreign countries for the stationing of foreign customs and agriculture inspection officers in the United States. Finally, there are amendments to the U.S. insular possession program in section 1562 of the Act. Effective datesstaged reductions that would have taken effect on or after date of enactment apply to new subheading numbers; vessel repair (sec. 1554) applies to vessel equipment, repair parts, and materials installed on or after April 25, 2001; hand-knotted or hand-woven carpets effective on the date President made them eligible for GSP; Sec 1557, unused merchandise drawback, effective date of enactment; Sec 1559, San Antonio Airport designation, effective November 9, 2002; Sec 1561, designation of foreign law enforcement officers, effective date of enactment (this is not new, only re-enacted); Sec 1562, amendments to insular possession program, effective with respect to goods imported into customs territory of U.S. on or after January 1, 2003; Sec. 1563, modification of provisions relating to drawback claims, effective on date of enactment; anything else for which effective date not specified-- effective date is the 15th day after the date of enactment of the Act.

Title II Other Trade Provisions

Subtitle A Miscellaneous Provisions

Sec. 2001 Grants the President authority to determine that Title IV of the Trade Act of 1974 should no longer apply to Armenia and proclaim the extension of normal trade relations treatment to products of Armenia.

Sec. 2002 Amends IRS Code relating to cellar treatment of natural wine. Effective on January 1, 2005.

Sec. 2003 Provides for the extension of reduced duty rates to, and liquidation or reliquidation of, goods which received such reduced rates under the ATPA, but lost their reduced duty status during the interim period in which the ATPDEA became effective and the President proclaimed such goods duty-free under the ATPDEA. Requests for liquidation or reliquidation must be filed within 180 days after date of enactment of the Act.

Sec. 2004 Enacts:

Various technical amendments to the Trade Act of 2002;

Amendments to the CBTPA, including deletion of the restriction in the provision for apparel of short supply fabrics or yarns that the fabrics or yarns could not be formed in the U.S. or beneficiary countries and extending the special rule for nylon filament yarn to the new hybrid provision added by section 3107 of the Trade Act of 2002;

Amendment of 19 U.S.C. 1505(a) pertaining to deposit of estimated duties and fees and amending the provision to provide for the promulgation of regulations, after testing a periodic payment module, allowing for the deposit of estimated duties and fees;

Other various technical amendments affecting Chapters 98 and 99 of the HTSUS;

Amendment of the definition of United States vessels under the ATPA (ATPDEA);

Various technical amendments regarding customs user fees;

Allowance of liquidation or reliquidation of apparel previously denied preferential duty treatment under the CBTPA but would qualify for such treatment based on the amendments to the CBTPA in section 3107 of the Trade Act of 2002 and subsection (b) of this section of this Act;

Labeling requirement for the marking of certain cotton and man-made fiber socks--amendment of the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act, effective 15 months after date of enactment ;

Amendment of the Trade Act of 1974 to exempt certain Trade Advisory Committees from certain requirements of the Federal Advisory Committee Act regarding open meetings and public participation if the President or his designee determines the meeting will involve matters the disclosure of which would seriously compromise U.S. trade policy and objectives. Allows the committees, at the discretion of the President, to terminate within 4 years from the date of their establishment, effective February 1, 2006;

Provides retroactive application of the amendments made in the AGOA Acceleration Act regarding certain component parts and de minimis entries, which were previously not applicable. This amendment will moot a number of pending court cases involving denial of AGOA preferential treatment due to importation of foreign collars and cuffs. The amendment also allows for requests for application of retroactive treatment for all changes to section 112 of the AGOA contained in the AGOA Acceleration Act to be made 90 days from the date of enactment of the Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act;

Mauritius is designated as a lesser-developed beneficiary country under AGOA for a 1-year period beginning October 1, 2004 and is allocated a percentage of the applicable percentage of apparel allowed under the AGOA LDC provision.

Sec. 2005 Laos designated to receive Normal Trade Relations status upon publication of a Federal Register notice by USTR that the U.S. and Laos have a trade agreement in force obligating reciprocal most-favored-nation treatment.

Sec. 2006 Repeal Section 801 of the Revenue Act of 1916 (antidumping provision) is repealed in order to bring the United States into compliance with its World Trade Organization obligations.

Subtitle BTechnical Amendments Relating to Entry and Protest All provisions in this title are effective on or after the 15th day after the date of enactment of this Act.

Sec. 2101 Amends statutory language (19 U.S.C. 1484) on requirement and time for making entry by permitting the filing of reconfigured entries on an import activity summary statement under regulations to be promulgated, provides for the liquidation or reliquidation of reconfigured entries covered by import activity summary statements pursuant to section 500, 501, or 504, and changes the time frame CBP may establish by regulation for filing a reconciliation entry by the importer from not later than 15 months after declaration of intent to file reconciliation to not later than 21 months.

Sec. 2102 Amends 19 U.S.C. 1504 to provide for inclusion of reconfigured entries, and applies the deemed liquidation law to post-entry declarations made by an importer.

Sec. 2103 Amends19 U.S.C. 1514 to, among other things, add the matters subject to a 520(c) petition to the types of protestable decisions, extend to the time frame in which a protest may be filed from 90 days to 180 days after the date of liquidation or reliquidation or the date of the decision being protested, extend the time for a surety to file a protest from 90 days to 180 days from the date of mailing of notice of demand for payment against its bond, and prohibit amending a protest if a request for accelerated disposition is made.

Sec. 2104 Amends 19 U.S.C. 1515 to allow for filing of request for accelerated disposition of a protest concurrent with or following the filing of the protest instead of after 90 days following the filing of the protest.

Sec. 2105 Repeals 19 U.S.C. 1520(c). Repeals the authority of CBP to reliquidate an entry or reconciliation to make certain corrections (e.g., clerical error, mistake of fact).

Sec. 2106 Amends 19 U.S.C. 1401 to add a definition of reconfigured entry

Sec. 2107 Amends 19 U.S.C. 1501 to add liquidations under 1504 to those of 1500, which can be reliquidated by CBP on its own initiative.

Sec. 2108 Effective date

Subtitle C Protection of Intellectual Property Rights

Sec. 2201 Amends 19 U.S.C. 2414 to require the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to make specified determinations about U.S. rights within 30 days after a dispute settlement procedure is concluded if the USTR considers that U.S. rights under the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement) or the GATT 1994 relating to products subject to intellectual property protection are involved. If the USTR does not believe a trade agreement is involved, the USTR has up to 6 months from the date of the initiation of the investigation to make determinations about U.S. rights.

Title III Iraqi Cultural Antiquities

Authorizes the President to exercise his authority under the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act to implement emergency import restrictions with respect to any archaeological or ethnological material of Iraq as if Iraq were a State Party under that Act. (But makes certain limitations under that Act inapplicable, including that the State Party must have requested the President to act.) Terminates such authority on September 30, 2009.

Title IV Wool Trust Fund

Amendments to the provisions in Chapter 99 of the HTSUS providing for duty suspensions of wool products and extending certain provisions termination by 2 years, modifying the limitations on quantities of imports, and requiring the Secretary of Commerce to issue regulations to allocate fairly the quantity of worsted wool fabrics required under U.S. Note 17, Subchapter II, Chapter 99, to manufacturers who weave worsted wool fabric in the United States. Establishes new trust fundthe Wool Apparel Manufacturers Trust Fund. Extends the current wool refund program. The Wool Research, Development, and Promotion Trust Fund is extended to January 1, 2008. Effective date of duty reduction extension is January 1, 2005.

Title V Reference to Customs Service

References to Customs Service are considered to be references to the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection of the Department of Homeland Security.
For anything else for which an effective date is not given, it is effective on the date of enactment.
This summary is also posted to the CBP webpage.

Space Coast World Trade Council
P.O. Box 510596
Melbourne Beach,Florida 32951-0596
Phone: 321-724-5769
Email: executive.director@spacecoastworldtradecouncil.org
Contact Form

Web site hosting by All Brevard Web Sites