With consideration to the recent horrific developments between Russia and Ukraine, the advice from the government, and the newly imposed sanctions, Shapiro has elected to suspend handling brokerage and forwarding services for all goods originating or shipping to/from Russia, Belarus, and the Donetsk/Luhansk/Crimea regions of Ukraine. For imports, this change will be effective for shipments […]

China is currently facing its largest COVID outbreak since the pandemic initially broke out in 2020. Despite its success combating the virus with a “zero-tolerance” policy thus far, the Chinese government has been unable to contain the highly contagious Omicron variant sweeping across the country in recent weeks. In response to the rapid spike in […]

Earlier today, President Biden announced that the US, along with Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the European Union, will revoke Russia’s Most-Favored-Nation (MFN) status in light of the country’s continued invasion of Ukraine. Additionally, the White House announced it would be taking the following measures: Banning export of luxury goods to Russia […]

Another outbreak of COVID-19 threatens port operations in the city of Ningbo after several positive cases were reported at a clothing factory over the weekend. As a result of the spike in cases, a partial lockdown has been put in place for certain parts of the district of Beilun—which is home to some of Ningbo’s […]

* IMPORTANT: This alert was updated on 12/27/21 to include the effective date. * On December 23, 2021, the White House released a proclamation to modify the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the US (HTS) in order to implement the 5-year update to the World Custom Organization’s (WCO) global Harmonized System (HS). The recommended modifications are […]

CBP’s five-year Harmonized Tariff Schedule update to the World Customs Organization and its Harmonized System will not take effect on January 1, 2022. According to CBP’s CSMS message, ““CBP is awaiting formal direction for this update, which will be implemented by Presiden­tial Proclamation and published in the Federal Register. In the interim, CBP will continue […]

The ports of Los Angeles (LA) and Long Beach (LB) announced that the “Container Dwell Fee” would once again be postponed until January 17, 2022. The fee was originally announced in late October and set to take effect earlier in November, but has been repeatedly delayed after the ports observed a noticeable clearing of backlogged […]

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced that it will extend 81 of 99  Section 301 tariff exclusions on products used to treat COVID-19 for an additional 6 months; these exclusions were originally set to expire on November 14, 2021. The extended exclusions will apply to products meeting the specified criteria until May […]

As previously mentioned in our most recent Shap Talk, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have announced a “Container Access Dwell Fee,” also called an “Emergency Storage Fee” to be imposed on November 1st. Carriers will be expected to pay a fee of $100 on the 9th day of dwell time for each […]

As you may already be aware, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) revealed that it is considering the possible reinstatement of previously extended Section 301 product exclusions. Now, the USTR has announced that it is seeking comments from the trade community to help determine which of the 549 exclusions—which previously expired in late […]

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced that it will reestablish a process for importers to apply for Section 301 tariff exclusions.  The USTR also confirmed that it has no plans to make any immediate changes to Section 301 tariff targets. No specific details have been announced regarding the exclusion process revival at […]

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced that it will extend for an additional 45 days certain Section 301 tariff exclusions on products used to treat COVID-19. This will give the USTR additional time to review previously submitted comments; these exclusions were originally set to expire on September 30, 2021. The extended exclusions […]

On Monday, August 16, 2021, the Court of International Trade (CIT) announced plans to extend the preliminary injunction preventing the liquidation of unliquidated entries subject to Section 301 List 3 or 4A tariffs from September 2nd until October 4th. In the same announcement, CIT judges also extended the August 20th deadline for US Customs and […]

The Ningbo Meidong Container Terminal, also called Meishan Terminal, has suspended all inbound and outbound services after an employee received a positive COVID-19 test on Tuesday, August 10th. The terminal is one of five in the port of Ningbo. The closure restricts shippers from picking up empty equipment or gating-in containers. While some industry leaders […]

The airfreight market has started to mirror the ocean freight market. This week, we are seeing the perfect storm in terms of increased demand, reductions in capacity (due to flight cancellations) and new restrictions as a result of COVID outbreaks in Nanjing, Zhangjiajie and Zhengzhou. Airfreight rates are currently $9 to $10/kilo and are trending to $11/kilo […]

Per our earlier Shap Flash, carriers announced additional surcharges for August to help offset rising costs from operational delays, vessel backlogs and other kinks in supply chains worldwide. As we expected, some carriers have announced alterations to the original list of surcharges; please click here for a detailed snapshot of the updated surcharges and the […]

Some of you may recall that the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) announced on July 6, 2021 that it will halt the liquidation of unliquidated entries subject to Section 301 tariffs in wake of the thousands of plaintiffs who filed lawsuits targeting the legality of List 3 and List 4 tariffs on Chinese goods. […]

As operational delays, equipment and space shortages, and vessel backlogs continue to cripple supply chains worldwide, carriers have announced additional surcharges that are scheduled to go into effect in August. Please click here for a detailed snapshot of the new surcharges and the markets that carriers are targeting at this time. We expect that other […]

Today, U.S. Department of Treasury and State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) officials announced that they have “reached agreement to address Treasury’s concerns about Vietnam’s currency practices as described in Treasury’s Report to Congress on the Macroeconomic and Foreign Exchange Policies of Major Trading Partners of the United States.” Although the announcement falls short of explicitly […]

Indonesia Indonesia has imposed an emergency public activity restriction (PPKM) through July 20, 2021. The restriction was passed due to ongoing spikes of COVID-19 cases. There have been 56,757 confirmed cases as of July 15. The PPKM restrictions are focused on Java, Bali, and Jakarta.  There are “rumors” that this PPKM will be extended for […]