On October 3rd, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced that additional Section 301 tariffs on European Union (EU) goods will go into effect on October 18th. The USTR has published an official notice in the Federal Register advising importers to prepare for the imposition of additional tariffs (ranging from 10% to 25%) with respect to […]

The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) will open a portal for Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (MTB) petition submissions on Friday, October 11, 2019 at 8:45 a.m. On Tuesday, October 8, 2019, the USITC will hold a public walk-through on the MTB petition process and online portal at the USITC Building, Hearing Room A, 500 E Street SW, […]

As you are already aware, the World Trade Organization (WTO) authorized the U.S. to impose additional tariffs on nearly $8 billion worth of European goods in response to the European Union’s (EU) subsidization of Airbus on September 25th. The office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has now released an official list of EU products […]

On Wednesday, September 25th, the World Trade Organization (WTO) authorized the U.S. to impose additional tariffs on $8 billion worth of European goods in response to the European Union’s (EU) subsidization of Airbus – Europe’s leading manufacturer of airplanes and aviation equipment. Though the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has yet to announce a specific percentage […]

In response to the United States Trade Representative’s (USTR) recently announced Section 301 List 4A and List 4B tariffs against Chinese products, China now plans to levy additional tariffs totaling $75 billion on U.S. soybeans, automobiles and oil.

Though supply chain disruptions continue to cripple Hong Kong, it appears that it’s not all bad news for China trade today, following the U.S. Trade Representative’s (USTR) announcement that certain products will not be subject to additional 10% tariffs until December 15th. According to the USTR’s announcement, List 4 goods were evaluated based on health, […]

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) released the first set of HTS subheadings that are partially excluded from Section 301 List 2 tariffs. The notice contains 69 HTS subheadings, which cover 292 separate requests. Please note again that these subheadings are only partially excluded from the 25% tariffs. The newest round of exclusions […]

Later this summer, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will deploy a change that affects the back-end processing of ACH Debit/Credit transactions.  The impact will be minimal for importers, but still marks an important change in process. Importers not participating in PMS (Periodic Monthly Statement) As the process exists today, a final statement is received the […]

Per our previous Shap Flash, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) had announced that it commenced proceedings under Section 301 of the Trade Act into a long-standing dispute concerning subsidies granted to the large civil aviation industry within the European Union (EU) and other member states. The USTR has recently revealed that it is […]

The U.S. and China are restarting trade negotiations following an enthusiastic meeting between President Trump and President Xi at the G20 summit this past weekend. Negotiations between China and the U.S. had previously stalled amid China’s failure to adequately address intellectual property concerns posed by the U.S., resulting in increased tariffs on all products falling […]

Per our previous Shap Flashes, the office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced plans to establish an exclusion process for products subject to Section 301 List 3 tariffs. The electronic portal allowing for exclusion submission requests will go live on Sunday, June 30th, 2019 at 12:00 PM. If you are “feeling the heat” in the kitchen as a result […]

By now, you may have learned that 17 metric tons of cocaine have been seized from the MSC Gayane by federal authorities on Tuesday, June 18th, at Philadelphia’s Packer Marine Terminal.  MSC has since been notified by United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) that their C-TPAT certification has been suspended for a period of […]

Friday, May 31st was a busy day!  In addition to announcing the termination of GSP privileges for India effective 6/5, the office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) shared that goods shipped prior to May 10th that fall under List 3 will NOT be subjected to an additional 15% in duties (from 10% to […]

On Friday, May 31st, President Trump announced that India would lose its Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) status effective Wednesday, June 5th. India’s GSP status is being revoked as President Trump feels that India is not ensuring the U.S. “equitable and reasonable access to its markets.” India’s loss of GSP status follows Turkey’s, and comes […]

On May 30th, in response to the record surges in illegal immigration crossing at the U.S.-Mexico border reported by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials in recent weeks, President Trump announced a 5% tariff on all U.S. goods imported from Mexico beginning June 10th. Moreover, Trump threatened to further escalate duties by an additional […]

The British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) and Canadian International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) have reached a tentative agreement to end yesterday’s planned labor lockout at the Vancouver and Prince Rupert ports, and will resume normal port operations effective this afternoon, Thursday, May 30th at 4:30 pm. Mediated negotiation efforts to end the lockout […]

The British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) released an official notice to the Canadian International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) indicating its intention to lockout dockworkers at the Canadian ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert beginning Thursday, May 30th at 8:00 am. The announcement trails the continuously tumultuous contract negotiations between BCMEA officials and ILWU […]

Several carriers have already announced upcoming Trans-Pacific blank sailings for June. The OCEAN Alliance, including CMA (including APL), COSCO (including OOCL) and Evergreen, will remove approximately 25,000 TEU from its Trans-Pacific trade lane in June (this represents over 6% of total capacity). The news comes amid declining demand due to the low volume of Chinese […]

Per our Shap Flash posted on May 8, the office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) released a statement indicating that the exclusion process for List 3 tariffs would be outlined shortly. Though no official announcement has been released yet, the USTR has released a separate notice on May 20th seeking the approval of forms […]

As importers subjected to Section 301 Lists 1, 2 and 3 can attest, additional tariffs have a major impact on your bond. With List 4 on the horizon (which covers nearly all products imported from China), it is more important than ever to gauge the sufficiency of your Customs bond. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) […]