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United States: Any Port in a Storm: USTR to Investigate Chinese Shipbuilding Subsidies

By , , and 3 Mins Read

On April 22, 2024, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced its initiation of a Section 301 investigation into China’s acts, policies and practices in the maritime, logistics, and shipbuilding sectors. The investigation is in response to a petition filed in March by five US labor unions alleging that China engages in unreasonable or discriminatory practices that provide unfair advantages in the maritime industries. The petition cited specific conduct alleged to target the maritime, logistics,…

Mexico: Nearshoring Quick Chats

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We are excited to launch Nearshoring Quick Chats, a collection of short conversations to guide you through the opportunities and challenges of nearshoring in Mexico. Our lawyers will discuss the main implications and challenges in the legal sphere around this trend, brought around by the ongoing geopolitical events. Many of our clients look to expand or move supply chain operations to more economical jurisdictions (while staying close to critical markets). For companies that focus on…

EU: European Commission adopts Regulation to ensure the smooth implementation of the Binding Valuation Information decisions

By , , and 2 Mins Read

On 12 April 2024, the European Commission adopted the Implementing Regulation no. 2024/1071 (“Regulation”) relating to binding valuation information (“BVI”) decisions in the field of customs valuation and introducing an electronic system for binding origin information (“BOI”) and BVI decisions. The Regulation can be found here. The possibility to apply for BVI decisions from relevant EU customs authorities was introduced into EU Customs Law by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/1072. See our earlier blog about…

UK: Upper Tribunal disagrees with HMRC’s strict application of compliance obligations for the discharge of inward processing relief procedure

By and 4 Mins Read

When importing goods into the UK, traders are required to account for any applicable customs duty and import VAT (collectively “Duties”) on import unless they can utilise a customs special procedure to delay or reduce payment of these amounts. Customs special procedures include the Inward Processing (“IP”) regime which allows traders to suspend the Duties while the imported goods are subject to repair or further manufacturing. Where a trader utilises IP, they are required to…

European Union: New European Commission Guidance on Customs Valuation Simplification under Article 73 UCC

By , and 2 Mins Read

Article 73 of the Union Customs Code (“UCC”) provides an easement for determining the customs value of goods, where elements of the transaction value are not quantifiable at the moment of importation. The simplification has been proven particularly useful for declaring additions to value such as assists (e.g. certain R&D related costs), royalties and license fees. Subject to an authorization from the competent customs authorities, the simplification allows for the value of these elements to…

Global: Annual Compliance Conference 2024 (webinar series)

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Our popular Annual Compliance Conference, which attracts over 4,000 in-house senior legal and compliance professionals every year from across the world, will be taking place from 30 April – 6 June (with a vacation break during the week commencing 27 May). We will be delivering our cutting-edge insights and guidance virtually on key global compliance, investigations and ethics trends.  We invite you to join us to gain practical insights and analysis on significant developments across: antitrust…

UK: start of the public consultation on the introduction of a UK carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM)

By , , and 5 Mins Read

Last week, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) and HM Treasury launched a public consultation on the introduction of a UK carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM), following its announcement in December 2023. The CBAM proposal forms part of the UK government’s wider strategy to tackle carbon leakage. To achieve this it will impose a carbon price on imported goods with the aim of levelling the playing field and ensuring that imported goods are subject to a…

EU: European Parliament adopts its first position regarding reform of the EU Customs Code

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On 13 March 2024, the European Parliament adopted its first reading position on the proposal from the European Commission to repeal and significantly reform the EU Customs Code (which we originally reported on in our blog available here). On 17 May 2023, the European Commission published its proposal for the reform of the EU Customs Code, which aims to change the way that EU customs authorities operate, in particular due to the significant growth in…

EU – CJEU given another chance at clarifying the customs treatment of retroactive price adjustments

By and 2 Mins Read

Uncertainty reigns over the impact of post-entry adjustments of provisional customs values, mainly in the context of retroactive transfer pricing adjustments. Part of this uncertainty stems from the landmark Hamamatsu case (C-529/16) of 20 December 2017. Though the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) had the chance to provide more clarity on the customs treatment of retroactive transfer pricing adjustments, the outcome only provided partial guidance while leaving room for altering interpretations among…

Will U.S. Lawmakers Find Common Ground to Enact De Minimis Reform in 2024?

By and 7 Mins Read

While expectations remain low that federal lawmakers will be able to agree on controversial trade legislation, particularly in a presidential election year, chances are better that Congress will agree on a narrower proposal to address a topic of growing interest and concern—de minimis reform. Background Congress amended Section 321 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. § 1321) with the enactment of the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 (P.L. 114-125) to…