The launch of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) Assessment and Revenue Management (CARM) project has officially been pushed back from October 2023 to May 2024. The regulatory amendments relating to electronic communication and payment, the provision of financial security electronically, and billing cycles that are necessary to support the launch and use of CARM are still on schedule and are planned to come into force in May 2024. The purpose of CARM is to…
On August 15, 2023, the President of Mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, published a Decree amending the Tariff Schedule of the General Import and Export Duties Law. The decree focuses on the implementation of temporary import duties ranging between 5% and 25% on goods classified in 392 tariff items covering steel, aluminum, bamboo, rubber, chemical products, oils, soap, paper, cardboard, ceramic products, glass, electrical material, musical instruments and furniture. These temporary duties are applicable as…
In recent years, we have seen a significant increase in Custom Audits by both Federal and State Tax Authorities, mainly to companies with foreign investment. We have seen Maquiladoras/IMMEX that were audited and received tax assessments in high amounts, including one for USD 70 million and one for USD 172 million dollars. What is the reason for these outstanding amounts and how can Maquiladora/IMMEX companies prevent these tax contingencies derived from these foreign trade audits?…
We’re reaching out today as we believe the publication of the 11th package of sanctions against Russia deserves your utmost attention! Particularly as it relates to the new anti-circumvention tool and the addition of entities registered outside of Russia on the list of natural or legal persons which are military end-users, form part of Russia’s military-industrial complex or which have commercial or other links with or which otherwise support Russia’s defence and security sector (i.e.…
In lieu of our annual conference in Bellevue, WA, we are excited to again provide a Virtual Global Trade Conference available to all our clients and friends worldwide! The conference will be comprised of 90 minutes sessions over the course of two days. Join us on July 12 and 13 for any or all of the sessions and learn from our panel of experts as they share their insights on cutting-edge trade trends, regulatory updates and challenges,…
World Trade Organization (“WTO”) Members laid out several key principles for determining the customs value of imported goods in the 1995 Customs Valuation Agreement (“CV Agreement”) with the aim of ensuring that the value of Members’ tariff concessions would not be nullified or undermined. Nonetheless, the WTO is – incorrectly – seldomly considered as a relevant forum for addressing customs valuation issues. This blog post highlights two avenues at the WTO for dealing with customs…
Baker McKenzie’s Global Compliance News Blog published “Türkiye: Restructuring of Customs Receivables,” which can be viewed here.
Baker McKenzie’s International Commercial & Trade Blog published “Venezuela: Customs Tariff Schedule updated,” which can be viewed here.
A failure to provide accurate and complete information to HMRC in relation to a quantity of goods on which Inward Processing Relief (IPR) has been claimed, gives rise to a customs debt on all the goods covered by the relevant bill of discharge report. This was decided by the UK First Tier Tribunal (FTT) in the case Thyssenkrupp Materials (UK) Ltd v HMRC on 30 November 2022. In Thyssenkrupp Materials (UK) Ltd v HMRC, Thyssenkrupp…
The Argentina Customs Director announced in a November press conference that Customs will continue focusing on customs valuations and transfer pricing issues. The asphyxiating foreign exchange regulations currently in place in Argentina are seen by Customs as an incentive for importers to artificially increase the import value of goods (since this will result in the transferring abroad of more foreign currency; a practice known as “over-invoicing”) as well as for exporters to artificially reduce the…