Ruling of the Week: 2017.8: To Drawback, And Beyond!

The customs implications of space travel have always interested me. NASA has confirmed, at least according to this article, that astronauts have to make customs declarations on returning to earth. It is not exactly clear to me whether that would be the case for an orbital flight that departs the U.S. and returns to the U.S. without an intervening stop at the International Space Station or elsewhere. In fact, the Apollo 11 customs entry seems to have been something of a joke, even if it was "official."

The future is certainly going to be filled with questions about this sort of thing. What will happen, from a customs-perspective, the first time someone starts a commercial asteroid mining operation? Will we need to expand the notion of "country of origin."

The obvious analogy is to ships at sea. Today, the law is clear with respect to fish caught in international waters. According to the Court of International Trade, in a case called Koru North America v. U.S.:

On the high seas, the country of origin of fish is determined by the flag of the catching vessel. Procter & Gamble Mfg. v. United States, 60 Treas. Dec. 356, T.D. 45099 (1931), aff'd, 19 CCPA 415, C.A. D. 3488, cert. denied, 287 U.S. 629, 53 S.Ct. 82, 77 L.Ed. 546 (1932). In international law, a ship on the high seas is considered foreign territory, functionally, "a floating island of the country to which [it] belongs." Thompson v. Lucas, 252 U.S. 358, 361, 40 S.Ct. 353, 64 L.Ed. 612 (1920). See also Robbins (Inc.) v. United States, 47 Treas. Dec. 261, T.D. 40728 (1925) (fish are characterized by their first taking).

That means an asteroid or portion thereof brought to the earth by a U.S.-registered space vessel will have a U.S. country of origin.

The folks who negotiated NAFTA thought this through. According to Article 415 of the Agreement, "goods taken from outer space, provided they are obtained by a Party or a person of a Party and not processed in a non Party" are considered to be "wholly obtained or produced" in North America. For you NAFTA nerds out there, that means they qualify as originating under Preference Criterion A.

What about going the other way? What if I import some fuel and send it out into orbit? Does that constitute exportation for purposes of drawback? That is the question presented in HQ H282698 (Feb. 24, 2017).

The law permits an importer receive drawback on duties, taxes, and fees paid on imported merchandise that it unused in the united stated and then exported or destroyed within five years of importation. There are lots of documentary requirements and procedures that need to be followed to secure drawback, so don't assume that I just explained all the ins and outs to you.

Merchandise is still unused if it has been repacked or subjected to other operations specified in the law. Again, don't try this at home without getting legal advice. In this case, about 66% of the fuel is loaded onto the satellite to power its thrusters in orbit. The remainder is exported from the U.S. According to CBP, transferring the unused propellant to a container for export is repacking and does not constitute use. It is, therefore, eligible for drawback.

The propellant loaded into the satellite is a different story. According to CBP, it is "used at the moment of its injection into a satellite thruster system." It is, therefore, not eligible of "unused merchandise" drawback.

Customs, however, provides a helpful alternative. It is also possible to secure drawback on imported materials used to manufacture goods in the U.S. CBP has previously applied that to parts of a satellite manufactured in the U.S. and exported to China for launch. That export to China was the relevant export for drawback purposes, not the launch into space. But, other rulings had determined that "merchandise assembled into a communications satellite sent into permanent orbit in outer space" is exported for drawback purposes. In this recent ruling, CBP reaffirmed that decision and held that launch to permanent orbit is an exportation for drawback purposes.

Ruling of the Week 2016.17: A Burning Question About Drawback

What happens when an importer pays duties, taxes and fees on imported merchandise which is subsequently destroyed in a fire? Unfortunately, nothing good.

Duty drawback is a statutory mechanism by which 99% of the duties, taxes, and fees paid on entry may be refunded if, within three years of importation, the merchandise is exported or destroyed under Customs' supervision. The merchandise must not have been "used" in the U.S. and the claimant must satisfy the regulatory requirements. See generally 19 USC § 1313(j)(i). As an aside, there are other kinds of drawback for special circumstances including petroleum products, substituted goods, and rejected merchandise.

In HQ H219828 (Aug. 27, 2014), a company called Sarmento Import and Export, Inc., sought drawback on bottles of wine lost in a warehouse fire. To give CBP the opportunity to observe destruction, the regulations require that the claimant submit a Form 7553 at least seven working days prior to the intended destruction date. This gives CBP the opportunity to verify what merchandise was destroyed. CBP need not always do so, but it must be given the opportunity. Of course, there was no prior knowledge that the fire would occur and no intended date of destruction.

The fire occurred on June 6, 2009. In an effort to recoup the duties, taxes, and fees paid on the lost inventory, Sarmento filed a CBP Form 7553 on September 2, 2010, more than a year after the wine was destroyed. As further backup, Sarmento submitted inventory receipts, post-fire photographs, a spreadsheet, and prior customs entries. Most of the company's records were destroyed in the fire.

Sarmento asked CBP to verify the destruction after the fire occurred. Unfortunately, CBP was unable to verify what merchandise had been destroyed. Consequently, CBP could not certify on the 7553 that it had verified the destruction of previously entered merchandise. Sarmento, therefore, was not entitled to drawback.

This is a sad story, but there are a few lessons to be learned.

First, drawback is technical and has detailed requirements. Be careful when making claims to satisfy the statutory and regulatory requirements. There is always the possibility that CBP has over stepped its regulatory authority by mandating some detailed information or other procedural requirement not intended by Congress. But, no one should want to be the claimant who has to fight that fight.

Second, detailed inventory records showing customs entries and the corresponding receipts of merchandise and warehouse location should be maintained and backed up separate from the inventory itself. While there is no way for Sarmento to have filed a timely 7553, Notice of Intent to Destroy, having better records might have given CBP more confidence in the claim. That would not have guaranteed a successful claim, but it would have helped.

Third, think about whether your insurance covers duties, taxes, and fees as well as part of the insured value of your inventory.

I'll look for better news to pass on.

Ruling of the Week 2015.25: No Refund for CPSC Restricted Goods

[UPDATE: I changed the title of this post to more accurately reflect the content, and to not look like an idiot.]

Like a lot of other lawyers who do administrative law, I have lately been thinking about Customs and Border Protection's efforts to wrangle its partner government agencies into using the Automated Commercial Environment to submit data to Customs. If you have been dealing with Customs for the last year or so, you have probably seen this image.

What is happening is the mandatory use of Customs' ACE system for electronic filing of data for other agencies. Previously, this data might have gone to Customs on paper or in a different electronic system. If this works, it will be great. If you are an importer, make sure your broker is up to speed and has invested in the software and training necessary to keep up with these changes.

One of the agencies that is moving toward ACE implementation is the Consumer Products Safety Commission. CPSC regulates and enforces product safety. Products that do not satisfy existing CPSC standards or are shown to be unsafe can be deemed inadmissible. Customs' role is to ensure that importers have the necessary documentation to prove that the products meet any applicable safety standards (e.g., lead content, choking hazards, etc.).

Which brings me to the Ruling of the week: HQ H239257 (Jul. 25, 2013). The importer entered some lighters, which Customs released. However, the CPSC asked Customs to issue a Notice of Redelivery because the importer had failed to file a pre-importation report with CPSC. In this case, the importer actually redelivered the goods to Customs and subsequently exported them to Canada. [Side note to Canada: Be on the lookout for potentially dangerous lighters from America.]

After exporting the goods, the importer asked Customs for a refund of the duties it paid. Note, this is not a drawback claim. The importer just wants its money back and pointed to 19 USC 1558. Under that statute, duties cannot be refunded after the release except for certain circumstances. Relevant to this situation, Customs can refund duties paid "[w]hen prohibited articles have been regularly entered in good faith and are subsequently exported or destroyed pursuant to a law of the United States and under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe." (I added the emphasis.)

The problem is that when federal agencies interpret their regulations, they sometimes give very specific and technical meanings to terms. Here, the rub is the word "prohibited." The lighters could have been entered into the United States had the importer properly documented them with the CPSC. Consequently, the lighters were not "prohibited," they were merely "restricted." Prohibited merchandise cannot lawfully be imported under any circumstances. Restricted merchandise, on the other hand, can be imported when the importer proves it has satisfied the legal requirements for entry.

Because the lighters could have been imported into the United States if the importer satisfied CPSC requirements, they were merely restricted and not prohibited. As such, CBP refused to refund the duty deposits.

So, when will Section 1558 apply? What is truly prohibited merchandise? Here is CBP's helpful page for travelers. As you might imagine, illegal narcotics and child pornography are both prohibited merchandise. But, it is unlikely that the importer will have declared those goods to Customs and paid duty. Under certain circumstances, Absinthe is prohibited (keep that thujone level down, please) as are unsafe toys and items made of dog and cat fur. There are others including lottery materials from any other country.

One industry that I suspect might qualify for refunds under this provision is the makers and importers of smokers' wares that have been needlessly and cruelly labeled drug paraphernalia [probably NSFW by many standards], which is prohibited merchandise.

"The 2004 Ford Drawback," Worst Vehicle Name Ever

Ford Motor Company had 17 drawback claims that it believes liquidated by operation of law and, as a result, that U.S. Customs and Border Protection should pay to it. Customs, as you might imagine, disagreed. That is why the U.S. Court of International Trade had to decide Ford Motor Company v. U.S.

The nub of the issue is 19 U.S.C. § 1504(a)(2)(C), which states:

An entry or claim for drawback filed before December 3, 2004, the liquidation of which is not final as of December 3, 2004, shall be deemed liquidated on the date that is 1 year after December 3, 2004 [i.e., on December 3, 2005], at the drawback amount asserted by the claimant at the time of the [drawback] entry or claim.

 Ford's claims were filed prior to December 3, 2004 and not liquidated by December 3, 2005. As a result, Ford believes it is entitled to the drawback claim in full. Customs, on the other hand, believes that because the drawback claims involved underlying entries that had not yet liquidated, the claims were not ripe and 1504(a)(2)(C) did not apply.

Rather, according to Customs, the controlling law is paragraph (B) of the same section, which states:

An entry or claim for drawback whose designated or identified [i.e., underlying] import entries have not been liquidated and become final within the 1-year period described in subparagraph (A), or within the 1-year period described in subparagraph (C), shall be deemed liquidated upon the deposit of estimated duties on the unliquidated imported merchandise, and upon the filing with the Customs Service of a written request for the liquidation of the drawback entry or claim. Such a request must include a waiver of any right to payment or refund under other provisions of law. The Secretary of the Treasury shall prescribe any necessary regulations for the purpose of administering this subparagraph.

According to Customs, the Ford claims could not be paid unless the entries were liquidated or Ford paid the estimated duties and filed a written request coupled with a waiver of any other refund. Ford did not do that.

Note that both (B) and (C) are exceptions to the rule of (A). The basic rule is that a drawback claim will liquidate as made by the claimant if it is not liquidated within one year of the date of the claim.

The Court disagreed with Customs and the Government. The way the Court reads the statute paragraphs (B) and (C) perform separate and independent duties. Paragraph (A) sets the general rule of one-year deemed liquidation. Paragraph (B) allows a claimant to force the liquidation of the drawback claim even though Customs has not yet liquidated the underlying entries. This is akin to the accelerated disposition of a protest. It forces CBP to act and the claimant can then decide what to do with the result. Paragraph (C) is the clean up provision that deals only with drawback claims pending on December 3, 2004. Paragraph (C) basically tells CBP to act on those claims within a year or they will be deemed liquidated as claimed.

To make a very long story short, that is how Ford won this case. The claims it filed prior to December 3, 2004 were deemed liquidated on December 3, 2005 even if underlying entries remained unliquidated. Paragraph (C), according to the Court of International Trade, is clear and unambiguous in its meaning. Nothing in the legislative history appears to be contrary to that conclusion.