Census Considering New Filing Requirement for Foreign Products in AES Transaction
The Census Bureau is considering a proposed rule that would require export filers to declare the country of origin for foreign products included in certain transactions. The agency considered the change about five years ago but has recently returned to the idea and expects to issue a proposal “soon,” said Omari Wooden, a senior Census official. “It’s something that's on the horizon,” Wooden said, speaking during the American Association of Exporters and Importers annual conference June 30. “You'll probably be seeing more information about that soon.”
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Wooden said the proposed rule would require exporters to file country of origin information “if there are any foreign products in your [Automated Export System] transaction” and the product is listed as foreign. He said the agency previously drafted a similar rule and received feedback, but he suggested Census wasn’t sure at the time whether filers would be able to submit the correct origin information. “We're now learning that there is more data, that there are certain industries that are stating that they do have that type of information,” Wooden said. “So that's one of the changes that we are considering proposing -- again, proposing. So no one on today's panel [should have their] head explode.”
Wooden said the agency is also receiving “a lot” of questions about whether Electronic Export Information is required “for a tangible commodity that contains technology or software that's licensed.” He said Census is “having conversations” with the State and Commerce departments when providing guidance on that question and may consider updating the Foreign Trade Regulations to make that more clear.
“That's something that we continue to have conversations about. Is tech data required to be reported, and then in what manner is it now required to be reported even if it is licensable?” Wooden said. “That's something that we're even looking to possibly update in our regulations to remove any types of redundancies as it relates to electronic transmissions.”
Census is also increasingly receiving questions about the role of auction houses in export transactions and whether they should be listed as the U.S Principal Party of Interest. Wooden said many activities conducted by auction houses align with the duties of a USPPI. “We always have to look back at the definition of what defines an order party,” he said. “Conducting direct negotiations between the foreign party and the U.S. party, receiving the order, basically putting the two parties together [and] coordinating the transportation. In many cases, some of these auction houses are performing all of those tasks.”