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Priority Trade Issues
Over half of the merchandise for sale in U.S. markets comes from abroad. In 2007 the total value of all imports into the U.S. was more than $2 trillion. For CBP, whose mission is to prevent terrorists and terrorist weapons from entering the U.S. —while facilitating the flow of legitimate trade and travel—processing these imports meant handling 22 million entry summaries with over 102 million lines, and collecting $32 billion in revenues.

CBP prioritizes which trade issues to look at most carefully by using a strategically layered risk management approach based on the potential impact of noncompliance. The Office of International Trade (OT) in CBP is organized to focus resources on seven designated Priority Trade Issues (PTIs)—high-risk areas that can cause significant revenue loss, hurt the U.S. economy, or threaten the health and safety of the American people. These PTIs are reviewed periodically as OT constantly assesses new risks and how it can best enforce the trade laws of the U.S.

PTIs form the core of the risk management approach outlined in the CBP Trade Strategy.They drive the investment of CBP resources and enforcement and facilitation efforts, including the selection of audit candidates, special enforcement operations, policy issuance, outreach and legislative and regulatory initiatives.

In alphabetical order, these are the Priority Trade Issues.

arrowAgriculture Programsfeatured see also
The goal of the Agriculture PTI is to prevent the importation of contaminated, diseased, infested, or adulterated agricultural and food products that could harm the American people, plant and animal agricultural resources, or the economy, while facilitating lawful trade.
arrowAntidumping and Countervailing Duties (AD/CVD)
When the Department of Commerce finds that imported merchandise was sold in the U.S. at an unfairly low or subsidized price, CBP is responsible for collecting the AD/CV duties timely to level the playing field for U.S. companies injured by these unfair trade practices. The goal of the AD/CVD PTI is to detect and deter circumvention of the AD/CVD law and to liquidate final duties timely and accurately, while facilitating legitimate trade.
arrowImport Safety
The Import Safety Priority Trade Issue is designed to ensure that unsafe products do not enter the commerce of the United States by working collaboratively and collectively with other government agencies, other foreign governments and the trade to better define and assess risk through increased automation and the sharing of information to encourage greater use of partnership and best practices to protect the U.S. consumer.
arrowIntellectual Property Rights
The trade in counterfeit and pirated goods threatens America’s innovation economy, the competitiveness of our businesses, the livelihoods of U.S. workers, and, in some cases, national security and the health and safety of consumers. The trade in these illegitimate goods is associated with smuggling and other criminal activities, and often funds criminal enterprises. CBP protects businesses and consumers every day through an aggressive IPR enforcement program. CBP targets and seizes imports of counterfeit and pirated goods, and enforces exclusion orders on patent-infringing and other IPR violative goods.
arrowPenalties
The goal of the Penalties PTI is to ensure that penalties are effective in deterring noncompliance. This requires national direction and uniformity among the 326 ports of entry and 41 Fines, Penalties and Forfeitures field offices, as well as the use of appropriate compliance alternatives and a focus on violations involving other Priority Trade Issues.
arrowRevenue
The goal of the Revenue PTI is to ensure that CBP has effective internal controls to protect the duties and taxes (over $32 billion in 2007) it collects for the U.S. Government, and that its financial reports meet the highest accounting standards.
arrowTextiles
The goal of the Textiles PTI is to ensure that textile imports, which generate more than 40% of the duties collected by CBP, fully comply with applicable laws, regulations, quotas, Free Trade Agreement requirements, and Intellectual Property provisions.
arrowTrade Agreementsfeatured see also
Over the last decade, the number of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and preferential trade legislation programs has increased significantly. In response to this current trade environment reality, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has designated Trade Agreements (TA) as a Priority Trade Issue (PTI). The objective of the TA PTI is to advance CBP’s mission by working with internal and external stakeholders to facilitate legitimate trade and address areas of non-compliance while effectively communicating the terms of our free trade agreements and preferential trade legislation. The TA PTI is limited to goods other than textiles and apparel, as textiles and apparel products are handled under a separate Textiles PTI.
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section sitemap for
Priority Trade Issues
see also:
right arrowon cbp.gov:
 Overview of Penalties: A Priority Trade Issue (PTI)
 Overview of Revenue: A Priority Trade Issue (PTI)
 Overview of Textiles: A Priority Trade Issue (PTI)
 Trade News
 Report Trade Allegations (e-Allegations)
 ACE Entry Summary Process and Policy
 Office of International Trade Contact Numbers
 Agriculture Programs
 Trade Agreements

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