Air Force Flame Resistant Trouser Contract Awarded

Propper International, Inc., Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico, has been awarded a maximum $12,653,265 firm-fixed-price indefinite- delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for flame resistant trousers. This is a one-year base contract with four one-year option periods. This was a competitive acquisition with three responses received. Location of performance is Puerto Rico, with a Sept. 26, 2020, performance completion date. Using military service is Air Force. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2020 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE1C1-19-D-1198).

Military Shoe Contract Awarded

Capps Shoe Co., Lynchburg, Virginia, has been awarded a maximum $11,614,500 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for men and women’s leather oxford shoes. This is a one-year base contract with four one-year option periods. This was a competitive acquisition with one response received. Location of performance is Virginia, with a Sept. 27, 2020, performance completion date. Using military services are Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2020 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE1C1-19-D-1202).

Marine Cold Weather Boot Contract Awarded

Belleville Shoe Manufacturing Co., Belleville, Illinois, is awarded a $7,506,953 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the purchase of up to a maximum 50,000 intense cold weather boots. Work will be performed in Belleville, Illinois, and is expected to be complete by September 2024. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Marine Corps) funds in the amount of $89,814 will be obligated on the first delivery order immediately following contract award, and funds will expire the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with three offers received. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Virginia, is the contracting activity (M67854-19-D-1594).

Cold Flyers Gloves Contract Awarded

Alamo Strategic Manufacturing, San Antonio, Texas, has been awarded a maximum $7,329,798 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for Intermediate Cold Flyers Gloves. This was a competitive acquisition with four responses received. This is a one-year base contract with three one-year option periods. Locations of performance are Massachusetts and Texas, with a Sept. 23, 2023, performance completion date. Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2023 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE1C1-19-D-1194).

U.S. Forest Service Flame Resistant Pants Contract Awarded

Propper International Inc., Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico, has been awarded a maximum $8,586,758 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for Type I and II flame resistant pants. This was a competitive acquisition with two offers received. This is one-year base contract with four one-year option periods. Location of performance is Puerto Rico, with a Sept. 24, 2024, performance completion date. Using customer is the U.S. Forest Service. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2020 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE1C1-19-D-1195).

Wide Lapels and Cuffs = More Wool Fabric to Sell?

This is not a fashion blog, but I could not but notice the October 2019 issue of Esquire -- pages of roomy suits, wide peaked lapels, and even Oxford bags. As someone who personally never liked the skinny suit and young men in trousers that looked like girls' leggings, I love it! The photo below is the most dramatic a departure from the fashions of the past dozen years, but there are several others in this issue.

Customs Implements New Programs for Duty-Free de Minimis Shipments.

E-Commerce and Section 321 Shipments

Section 321(a)(2)(C) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, authorizes CBP to provide an administrative exemption to admit free from duty and tax shipments of merchandise (other than bona fide gifts and certain personal and household goods) imported by one person on one day having an aggregate fair retail value in the country of shipment of not more than $800. This exemption is known as a de minimis entry. CBP has created Section 321 programs to enable the agency to monitor and protect against illegitimate trade while providing the public the benefits of duty free shipments for qualified imports.

To learn more about these programs, select program overview.

The Section 321 de minimis provision has attracted interest of late. On February 24, 2016, the Trade Enforcement and Trade Facilitation Act of 2015, Pub. L. 114-125, 130 Stat. 122 ("TFTEA"), was signed into law, which increased the de-minimis value exemption under 19 U.S.C. § 1321 from $200 to $800. Accordingly, beginning March 10, 2016, articles valued at $800 or less, which are imported by one person on one day, are eligible for duty free entry, under 19 U.S.C. § 1321(a)(2)(C). Because of this increase in value, merchants have expressed their desire to apply the de-minimis value exemption to withdrawals from FTZs. Specifically, bulk commercial merchandise shipped to the United States would be brought into the port limits and admitted into an FTZ. Once an e-Commerce purchase, valued at $800 or less is made, based on the aggregate purchase by a single customer on a single day, the merchants propose to enter the merchandise using weekly informal entry procedures pursuant to Section 321 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. § 1321) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection ("CBP") Regulations: 19 C.F.R. §§ 10.151, 10.153, 143.21, and 143.23. In Binding Ruling H282601 of September 18, 2018, CBP responded to the American Apparel and Footwear Association, stating:

"Because the merchandise is imported in a bulk consolidated shipment valued at over $800 at importation, 19 C.F.R. § 10.153(d) prevents the goods from leaving the FTZ duty free under 19 C.F.R. § 10.151. Moreover, under Section 321, the $800 per day limit applies to the AAFA Members at the point of importation and not to the individual purchasers subsequent to importation. Accordingly, the shipments and transactions proposed by AAFA, valued over $800 at importation, do not qualify for duty-free treatment and informal entry under the administrative exception of Section 321."

With the rise of the de minimis to $800 we have seen more online retailers taking advantage of it. For example, Sears has a warehouse in Canada for de minimis shipments of apparel direct to consumers in the U.S. Customs has advised online retailers that they must be careful to follow the rules for Section 321, including the "single customer on a single day" provision.