Montana, North Dakota Senators Call for CBP to Shore Up Duty Collection Process for Chinese Honey
Slow CBP enforcement and duty collection efforts are impeding U.S. producers’ ability to recover from dumped imports of Chinese honey, Montana’s and North Dakota’s Senate delegations said in a June 6 letter to Acting CBP Commissioner Kevin McAleenan (here). Sens.…
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Jon Tester, D-Mont., John Hoeven, R-N.D., Steve Daines, R-Mont., and Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., said they learned in 2015 that CBP paid itself interest from duties collected instead of passing along relief to U.S. producers, resulting in “CBP deducting more than 90 percent of the duties collected to pay itself interest.” Despite the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act’s [TFTEA’s] direction for all collected duty and interest amounts to be paid to producers, CBP has decided to “selectively apply” these provisions as the agency claims calculating owed amounts is “too difficult," the senators wrote. “This is an unacceptable decision for jobs in our states,” they wrote. “As Section 605 [of TFTEA] directs, all duties and interest collected on honey imports for the period covered by the law should be paid to honey producers.” The letter ends by urging CBP to pursue collection of all outstanding duties and accrued interest, and requesting a reply from McAleenan.