On April 23, 2014 CBP’s Virginia McPherson advised international trade community that products from Crimea, marked as “Product of Russia,” “Made in Russia,” “Contents Made in Russia” can be subject to additional 10% marking duties due to violation of 19 U.S.C. § 1304. See CSMS #14-000236 (stating “[g]rowth, production, or manufacture of a good in Crimea is growth, production, or manufacture of a good in Ukraine.”). With CSMS #14-000236 CBP joined OFAC’s critique circle that expresses the discontent of our (U.S.) executive branch views over political situation in Crimea. My colleagues done a good analysis on OFAC’s expression of unhappiness with Russia. See e.g. Steptoe’s publication here, or Mr. Burns article here. Here, CBP’s Virginia McPherson statements invite review of the administrative precedent and analysis, as Ms. McPherson’s address offers only conclusive words with very little reasoning. In T.D. 97-16, CBP (then called Customs Service) offered a better reasoning of country of origin marking for products that were made in places of political uncertainties. Case study concerned West Bank and Gaza. Following were the major principles that CBP used for guidance in T.D. 97-16 and 95-25: CBP gives a great deal of deference to the State Department, which “requests” CBP…

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