Tariff Information, 1921, Proposed Revision of the Customs Administrative Laws Submitted by the Tariff Commission ... Revised and Amended Draft of Bill Suggested by the Tariff Commission, August 26, 1918

before the act of 1913, by which any person importing merchandise could have the proper classification judicially determined in cases where the collector was thought not to have taken the full amount of duty accruing under the law. For a like purpose, namely, review in cases of a valuation alleged to be too low, appeal for reappraisement is also allowed. (See secs. 105, 123.)

FEES.

Protest fees are proposed to be abolished and contingent fees allowed. It is the consensus of opinion of those persons and Government officials who have been consulted that the law of 1913, so far as it imposes protest fees and forbids contingent fees, has not proved beneficial. The general testimony is that the requirement of protest fees has operated to assist the Government in maintaining assessments which in fact were undue and should have been corrected, while the prohibition of contingent fees has discouraged importers from undertaking to recover exactions in excess of what the proper construction of the law warrants. The draft, however, imposes a penalty of not less than $5 nor more than $250 for the filing of a frivolous protest or appeal for reappraisement. (See sec. 125.)

CHAPTER V.

BONDED MERCHANDISE.

The fifth chapter of the draft (secs. 131-147) contains revised provisions for the warehousing and transportation of merchandise in bond. The law relating to transportation without appraisement from the port of arrival to the port of destination in the United States is proposed to be changed in such manner as to permit merchandise imported at any port to be entered for immediate transportation without appraisement and transported by a bonded carrier to any other port in the United States for due entry, appraisement, and collection of duties there in the same manner as if it were the port of original importation. The existing law limits the privilege to ports specifically designed for the purpose by acts of Congress. (See sec. 132.)

MANIPULATION IN WAREHOUSES.

Under the present laws only a few articles can be changed in condition in bonded warehouses. This often works hardships and hinders commerce. Manipulation of any kind short of manufacture is provided for in the draft. For orderly procedure and to assure equal treatment, permission of the Secretary of the Treasury is required. (See secs. 135 and 142.)

Under the existing law goods manufactured in bonded manufacturing warehouses may be withdrawn thence for home consumption in two cases only: (1) Cigars, manufactured in whole or in part from tobacco all of which is imported from a single country, upon payment of the duties on such tobacco in its condition as imported (together with the internal-revenue tax on the cigars), and (2) waste material or by-products incident to manufacture, upon payment of duty as upon importations for consumption. All other articles manufactured in such warehouses are restricted to withdrawal for exportation. It is proposed in the draft to extend the privilege of withdrawal for consumption to all articles of any kind, upon payment of duties thereon in their condition as withdrawn; in other words, to treat them precisely like articles imported from abroad. (See sec. 143.) This amendment of the customs laws would materially assist in modifying complaints frequently advanced against the limitations of the warehouse system.

DRAWBACK.

In the draft the law governing the payment of drawback on exportations, both of duty-paid merchandise withdrawn from bonded warehouses and of articles manufactured out of bond wholly or in part from imported materials, has been simplified. Certificates of the landing of exported merchandise in foreign countries are required by existing law as a condition of paying drawback and constitute one of the conspicuous causes of dissatisfaction, because they involve among other things delay in making the refunds. Under the proposed revision they will no longer be required, unless in specific cases deemed necessary by the Secretary of the Treasury for the protection of the revenue. Another proposed amelioration is the repeal of the laws by which drawbacks, unlike other refunds, are paid in debenture certificates, involving delay and technicalities. Such payments would be made, under this modification, in checks or warrants like other duty refunds. Further, the drawback provisions have been simplified by leaving other matters, now the subject of numerous statutes, to administrative regulations. (See secs. 136 and 138.)

CHAPTER VI.

ENFORCEMENT OF LAWS.

The statutes imposing fines, penalties, and forfeitures for violations of the custom laws have been assembled in the sixth chapter (secs. 148-193), except where they are so closely connected with matters enjoined or forbidden as to be virtually inseparable. In the draft, penalties have been made uniform for like offenses.

The draft further provides that in case of war or other emergency the time for the performance of any act required by the customs administrative laws may be extended by presidential proclamation. (See sec. 193.) Production of certified invoices and the withdrawal of merchandise from bonded warehouses (now required to be made within a specified limit of time) are among the acts of this class.

CHAPTER VII.

REPEALING PROVISIONS.

The laws to be repealed are set forth in the seventh chapter. (Secs. 194–198.) There are a great many both in the Revised Statutes and in later legislation. Continuance without reenactment of the acts of March 4, 1909, chapter 321, and March 3, 1911, chapter 231, known, respectively, as the Criminal Code and the Judicial Code, is proposed.