On Tuesday, August 11, 2020, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced in Federal Register Notice 85 No. 155 FR 48551 that, “in light of the President’s Executive Order on Hong Kong Normalization issued on July 14, 2020, suspending the application of section 201(a) of the United States-Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992 to the marking statute, section 304 of the Tariff Act of 1930, with respect to imported goods produced in Hong Kong, such goods may no longer be marked to indicate ‘Hong Kong’ as their origin, but must be marked to indicate ‘China.'”

CBP is granting importers a 45-day implementation period starting yesterday. Effective Friday, September 25, 2020, all goods produced in Hong Kong which are entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption into the United States must be marked to indicate that their origin is “China” for purposes of 19 U.S.C. 1304.

The marking statute 19 U.S.C. 1304 indicates that, unless excepted, every article of foreign origin (or its container) imported into the United States shall be marked in a conspicuous place as legibly, indelibly, and permanently as the nature of the article (or its container) will permit, in such a manner as to indicate to an ultimate purchaser in the United States the English name of the country of origin of the article. Failure to mark an article in accordance with the legal requirements may result in a refused entry, the levy of a duty of ten percent ad valorem, or a recall of prior released goods back into customs custody.

The President issued Executive Order 13936 on Hong Kong Normalization due to the determination that Hong Kong is no longer sufficiently autonomous to justify differential treatment in relation to China. This order required appropriate action to be commenced by relevant agencies within 15 days consistent with applicable law.

For more information, please contact your local Noatum Logistics USA representative.