Due to the severity of Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has announced that they will approve, on a case-by-case basis, additional days for payment of estimated duties, taxes and fees due to this emergency.  They have asked that requests be directed to the Office of Trade, Trade Policy and Programs at […]

On Friday, February 14th, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) revealed additional modifications to the Section 301 tariffs on approximately $7.5 billion worth of European Union (EU) products that originally went into effect on October 18th, 2019. The USTR will publish a notice in the Federal Register advising importers to prepare for the imposition of 25% […]

March 20, 2020 These certainly are challenging times for all of us. During this unprecedented pandemic, we have compiled a condensed update of supply chain conditions. The below is the status of events effective March 20, 2020. U.S. Domestic Trucking Conditions Driver supply remains solid with truckers hungry for work after Chinese New Year Driver […]

After an investigation into a confirmed case of COVID-19 at the Port of Houston, we have confirmed that the Bayport and Barbours Cut Terminals will reopen tonight, Thursday, March 19, 2020, effective 7:00 PM. Terminal, gate and vessel operations are scheduled to be fully operational effective tomorrow, Friday, March 20, at 7:00 AM. Despite the brief […]

Due to a confirmed case of COVID-19 at the Port of Houston, the Bayport and Barbours Cut Terminals announced that they are suspending operations temporarily. Port officials have yet to release additional information regarding the closures. However, customers with shipments routed through Port Houston may experience service disruptions and delays in the coming days as […]

As you may have heard over the weekend, UK and Ireland have been added to the Coronavirus travel ban.  As a result, shippers should expect several things: More flight cancellations starting this week (March 16) through April. Suspended airline tariff rates by many air carriers in favor of quoting ad-hoc. Virus screening ability at 13 […]

On Friday, March 13, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced that just 11 (eleven) exclusions from the second round of Section 301 tariff exclusions on List 1 goods will be granted extensions. As the exclusions for the second round of List 1 goods were set to expire on March 25, 2020, this […]

Dear Valued Customers, Firstly, our hearts go out to the many victims of the COVID-19 pandemic.   We are quite sure that the global news may worsen in the coming weeks and months and we hope you, your families, and your companies remain safe. Unlike the Hanjin collapse or the Maersk-Damco cyberattack, we did have some […]

Today, March 13th, 2020, Canada’s House of Commons unanimously voted to adopt the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) – known in Canada as CUSMA. It was then approved by the Senate less than an hour later, before Canadian legislators enter a brief recess until April 20th due to the Coronavirus outbreak. Already passed by Mexico and […]

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) released additional product exclusions from Section 301 Chinese tariffs. The latest USTR notice features two announcements, each containing the specially prepared HTS subheadings excluded from either List 3 or List 4A tariffs. The List 4A notice contains 19 HTS subheadings partially excluded from List 4A tariffs, which […]

On Thursday, March 12th, American Airlines announced it would be suspending flights to the 26 newly restricted European countries within the Schengen Area beginning next week (March 14th – 19th) until May 7th or June 4th, depending on the lane.  American also announced that they will be delaying the start of their seasonal Rome service, […]

As the Coronavirus (COVID-19) officially enters pandemic status this week, President Trump announced a 30-day ban on all passenger air travel from Europe to the U.S. beginning Friday, March 13th at 11:59 PM (EDT). According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), any foreign nationals traveling within or from the 26 European states that […]

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) released a set of product exclusions from Section 301 List 4A Chinese tariffs. The List 4 notice contains 8 HTS subheadings completely excluded from List 4A tariffs, which cover 59 separate requests. The list of 8 HTS subheadings that have been completely excluded from the List 4A tariffs are […]

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced an additional set of product exclusions from Section 301 List 3 Chinese tariffs. The List 3 notice contains 1 HTS subheading completely excluded from 25% tariffs, which covers 6 separate requests, and 46 partially excluded subheadings, covering an additional 61 requests. The latest round of exclusions will retroactively […]

Effective Thursday, February 13th, Canadian National Railway (CN) announced that it would begin a progressive shutdown of its Eastern Network services in light of the illegal protests against the proposed Coastal GasLink pipeline. Thus far, CN has already canceled over 400 trains along its Eastern Canadian corridor. Though officials have successfully obtained assistance from enforcement […]

On Monday, February 10th, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced an additional set of product exclusions from Section 301 List 1 Chinese tariffs. The List 1 notice contains 4 specially prepared product descriptions that are completely excluded from the 25% tariffs. The Section 301 List 1 tariffs initially spanned 818 products and […]

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced that an additional item will be excluded from Section 301 List 3 Chinese tariffs. The List 3 notice contains 1 HTS subheadings completely excluded from 25% tariffs. The notice also includes five updates to existing List 3 exclusions. The latest round of exclusions will retroactively apply to all […]

Per our previous Shap Flash, President Trump authorized the U.S. to impose an additional 25% tariff on certain steel products — and an additional 10% tariff on certain aluminum products — in response to the lack of positive results from existing 232 tariffs. The U.S. Department of Commerce has now released an official list of […]

Related to yesterday’s ShapFlash: in wake of the rapidly spreading Coronavirus, the Chinese government has decided to extend its Lunar New Year an additional 3 days– from January 30th to February 2nd – in all cities except Shanghai and Ningbo. In the Shanghai and Ningbo provinces, which are closer to Wuhan, the New Year extensions […]

The deadly Coronavirus, which has already negatively impacted trade, has now claimed up to 80 lives and infected over 2,700 people. Wuhan, which served as ground zero for the outbreak, is still actively in the process of cancelling events and imposing mandatory quarantines. In a report released this weekend, the Chinese government had already decided […]