It’s been a few months since the announcement in the Federal Register, but please remember that several user fees will increase effective October 1st, 2018. One of the most significant changes will involve merchandise processing fees (MPF).  While the ad valorem rate of .3464% will remain the same, the minimum and maximums have been modified.  […]

The office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) officially published the List 2 exclusion process on Tuesday, September 18th. The official notice and exclusion process can be found HERE. Please take note of the following key points as they relate to the exclusion filing process: The final list of Section 301 tariffs affected by […]

We are sorry to report that the (dreaded) day has finally arrived…    In the Administration’s continued attempt to bolster U.S. manufacturing, Section 301 List 3 tariffs have been finalized—and are set to take effect next Monday, September 24th. Affected importers should expect to pay an additional 10% in tariffs through the remainder of the […]

Typhoon Mangkhut, which just finished ravaging southern China and continues to move inland, and Hurricane Florence, which continues to be a catalyst for major flooding along the southeastern coast of the U.S., have caused major havoc on ground, sea and air transport schedules. Believe it or not, Hurricane Florence appears to be the lesser of […]

The Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (MTB) became law on September 13th, 2018 and will go into effect on October 13th, 2018, following a 30-day grace period. The bill provides tariff reductions on roughly 1,700 items through 2020 and was originally proposed by the International Trade Commission (ITC) as a means of maintaining and enhancing the competitiveness […]

Hurricane Florence is approaching!   Out of concern for our team and in compliance with local instructions, the Shapiro’s Charleston office closed at 10 AM today, Tuesday, September 11th. Our Charleston employees are working remotely to address all emails, but responses may be delayed. If you need immediate assistance, please contact our Charleston Branch Manager, Chris Carlton, […]

We are hearing from the media—and you may be as well– that tariffs on List 3 could go into effect as early as Friday, September 7th.   We find this hard to believe, but feel it is important to share what we are thinking: The period for public comment on List 3 tariffs is officially ending on Thursday, September 6th.  One would […]

The United States Trade Representative (USTR) has released three U.S.-Mexico Trade Fact Sheets announcing that the United States and Mexico have reached a preliminary agreement, in principle, to update the 24-year-old NAFTA with modern provisions representing a 21st century, high-standard agreement.  The updated agreement will support mutually beneficial trade leading to freer markets, fairer trade, […]

On Monday, August 7th the office of the United States Trade Representatives (USTR) published its finalized second list, officially known as “List 2”, of Chinese products; these tariffs will be subject to additional duties effective August 23rd. In its final iteration, “List 2” places additional duties of 25% on $16 billion of Chinese products, spanning […]

On Friday, August 3rd, China announced that they will impose their own set of tariffs on $60 billion worth of U.S. goods if President Trump moves forward with his plan to further increase tariffs. Last week, the Trump administration announced they are considering an increased tariff rate on List 3 items from 10% additional duty […]

President Trump has announced that he is considering increasing the tariff rate percentage from 10% additional duty to 25% on List 3 items, which is an additional $200 billion worth of goods from China. This would be applied to approximately 6,000 tariff lines from China. A complete list of the products subjected to the tariffs […]

Reports from New Delhi have confirmed that the Indian trucker strike officially ended on Friday, July 27th, though inflated pricing and inland capacity woes are expected to plague the nationwide market into late August. The strike commenced on July 20th as the All Indian Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC) took 10 million vehicles off the road […]

Shapiro’s Atlanta, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Dulles offices are closed today.  Customs is closed in Atlanta, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Dulles and NY today. The best way to reach our staff is via email as we have several employees working remotely.  To reach someone via phone for urgent matters: Baltimore: Jamie Frampton, Import Manager:  443-891-3070 Marley Tanno, Import […]

Yesterday, July 24th, COSCO’s U.S. offices fell victim to a cyber attack. According to initial reports COSCO’s U.S. network broke down rendering the majority of their electronic communications inoperable, thus hindering COSCO’s ability to communicate with vessels, customers, vendors and terminals within the U.S. At this time, COSCO has not proposed a timeline for when […]

As of 6 AM (IST) this morning, the All-India Motor Transport Congress, led by Chairman Bal Malkit Singh, commenced an indefinite strike as a means of protesting rising diesel costs, heightened taxes with decreased exemptions and the current system for tendering port cargo. Initial reports indicate that over 80% of the country’s truck capacity is participating […]

President Trump took another stab at the ongoing trade war between the United States and China on Tuesday, as the U.S. Trade Representative released a list of tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese products. The proposed list consists of a 10 percent tariff on 6,031 8-digit tariff lines. This announcement comes after President Trump threatened […]

The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced a process to obtain product exclusions from the additional tariffs in effect on certain products imported from China (Section 301 tariffs). The Text of the Federal Register notice outlining the criteria and process for a product exclusion request and public requests, responses, and replies will be received via Regulations.gov. […]

Trump officially announced last month that the United States is moving forward with imposing tariffs of $50 billion on Chinese products that contain “industrially significant technologies.” As the trade war between the US and China looms, the United States will begin to enforce a 25% percent tariff on 818 Chinese products, valuing $34 billion worth […]

Under the CBMA, reduced tax rates and/or tax credits are applicable to importations of certain limited quantities of distilled spirits, beer, or wine imported from each qualifying foreign producer. Further, the foreign producer must have affirmatively assigned those rates or tax credits to an importer or importers, and the quantity assigned to all importers by […]

Shapiro is excited to unveil our new website design! When accessing www.shapiro.com, visitors might notice the website layout looks slightly different than in the past. We decided it was time for a transformation to the site, and it was crucial to make sure our “quirkiness” wasn’t lost. Adjustments to change can be tough at times, […]