CBP: Development of Tariff-Related Enhancements in ACE Is Underway

CBP has added several new enhancements, detailed in its May ACE Development and Deployment Schedule, that seek to facilitate the input of tariff-related data into ACE.

The agency listed five new enhancements in its latest report, four of which CBP began developing in April. They are:

• Increase in Harmonized Tariff Schedule Code Limit per Entry Summary Line: This enhancement will enable filers to include up to 32 HTS codes on one entry summary line, compared with the current limit of 8 HTS codes per entry summary line (see 2505070020). The target deployment date for this enhancement is June 14.
• Addition of “Unknown” Field for Reporting Country of Smelt or Cast for Derivative Aluminum Imports: This enhancement will allow ACE to accept “Unknown” in lieu of an International Organization for Standardization country code for all Section 232 derivative aluminum imports. Specifically, ACE will accept “Unknown” for the country of primary smelt, country of secondary smelt, or country of cast for derivative aluminum imports, CBP said. The target deployment date for this enhancement is June 28.
• ACE Collections: International Mail Duty: This enhancement will add a new class code in ACE Collections to accept payments via pay.gov and Fedwire (alternate payment method) in support of the April 7 executive order on reciprocal tariffs. The target deployment date is May 24.
• Removal of Cumulative Effect of Overlapping Tariffs: This enhancement will enable ACE to enforce the appropriate single tariff rate (if applicable) when an import is subject to multiple tariff rates. Following deployment, this tariff “unstacking” functionality will be retroactively applied to all entries filed on or after March 4. The target deployment date is May 15.
• Addition of HTS Code Fields in MEWS: This enhancement, which CBP began developing in May, will enable CBP users to enter additional tariff numbers for entries in the Mail Entry Writing System (MEWS). MEWS will also calculate and display the total duty rate and amount on the main entry screen. The target deployment date is July.

CBP announced the availability of the May update to the ACE development and deployment schedule via a May 14 cargo systems message.