Union Pacific railroad announced that it will halt the movement of international cargo from the West Coast to its Global IV terminal in Chicago for a week, beginning Sunday, July 18th. The announcement comes after labor shortages, pandemic restrictions and pooled chassis shortages have created congestion at the terminal. Officials hope that the weeklong pause […]

In wake of the rapidly deteriorating COVID situation in Ho Chi Minh City and other provinces, Vietnam officials have announced that the country will be instituting a full lockdown effective tomorrow – July 9, 2021 – to attempt to contain the outbreak. Please note the following details: Many offices will be severely reducing in-office staffing […]

Today, the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) announced 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. In its preliminary injunction, a majority of judges on […]

Today, the US and EU announced that they have reached a deal related to the Boeing – Airbus dispute. This marks the end of the longest running quarrel in the history of the World Trade Organization (WTO). According to the official White House Press release, the US and EU will suspend tariffs for five years and work together […]

Unites States Trade Representative Katherine Tai announced today the conclusion of the one-year Section 301 investigations of Digital Service Taxes (DSTs) adopted by Austria, India, Italy, Spain, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. The final determination in those investigations is to impose an additional 25% 301 tariffs on certain goods from these countries.  The USTR announced […]

Congestion has been one ramification of the COVID outbreak we reported on yesterday. In an effort to improve the traffic situation in the surrounding areas of the port of Yantian, Yantian International Container Terminals (YICT) has decided the following: Between 12 AM (midnight) on May 28th and 11:59 PM on May 30th, export-loaded containers will […]

COVID-19 cases were first detected at the port of Yantian last Friday, and several more infections have emerged for workers on the Oriental Vancouver. The following measures have been implemented by the Chinese authorities: Two COVID-19 tests every three days for all workers at the port. Sanitation of the whole port and residential areas around […]

On Monday, the Court of International Trade (CIT) announced that it found that Donald Trump had violated his presidential authority when he expanded Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum derivative products back in January 2020. The decision was announced following months of litigation resulting from a lawsuit filed by PrimeSource Building Products – a […]

We learned this morning that the grounded EVER GIVEN has been dislodged in the Suez Canal—and that it will be towed, during high tide, to Great Bitter Lake for inspection. It is expected that transits will resume later this evening and that the backlog will be addressed within the week. We will certainly keep you apprised […]

The Ever Given, operated by Evergreen, was headed to the Netherlands on Tuesday when it ran aground, sideways, in the Suez Canal during a dust storm.  The Canal is currently blocked in both directions.  Dredgers have been working to dislodge the vessel which is blocking the flow of an estimated $12 billion in goods. Some […]

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced that it will extend certain Section 301 tariff exclusions on products used to treat COVID-19; these exclusions were previously set to expire on March 31, 2021. The extended exclusions will apply to all products meeting the specified criteria until September 30, 2021. Click here to read […]

On March 4th, 2021, the office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) and United Kingdom (UK) announced a four-month suspension of additional duties on large civilian aircrafts in an effort to resolve one of the longest running World Trade Organization (WTO) disputes. According to the USTR press release, the UK had already stopped applying retaliatory […]

On January 20th, the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) announced that the ‘Aluminum Import Monitoring and Analysis (AIM) System’ final rule, originally scheduled to go into effect on January 25, 2021, would be delayed until March 29, 2021 to allow incoming Biden Administration officials additional time to review all relevant documentation prior to its implementation. […]

Effective January 25, 2021, when a Customs entry is filed for Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) regulated plants, plant products, animal products, or live dog imports, APHIS will require the mandatory filing of the PGA Message Set in the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE). APHIS has flagged more than 2,000 HTS subheadings that may […]

As you may already be aware, in October 2020, the USTR launched two separate investigations into Vietnam’s acts, policies, and practices related to currency valuation pursuant to Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. Today, the USTR released a report concluding that Vietnam’s acts, policies, and practices – including excessive foreign exchange market interventions […]

Earlier today, the US State Department announced that Cuba would be designated as a State Sponsor of Terrorism for “repeatedly providing support for acts of international terrorism in granting safe harbor to terrorists.” Cuba now joins three other countries on the list: Iran, North Korea and Syria. Click here to view the full announcement from […]

Yesterday, the office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced the suspension of additional 25% duties on certain French goods that were originally scheduled to begin on January 6, 2021. According to officials, the decision was made “given that these [Digital Services Tax] investigations are ongoing and have not yet reached any determinations on what, […]

On December 30th, in the latest escalation of the on-going dispute over aircraft subsidies, the office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced that it will impose additional Section 301 tariffs on goods imported from the European Union (EU). An additional 15% tariff will be assessed on aircraft parts, as well as 25% tariffs on […]

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced that it will extend certain Section 301 tariff exclusions on products used to treat COVID-19. The USTR also announced that it is adding more products to the initial list of goods covered by the exclusions. The extended exclusions will apply to all products meeting the specified […]

On December 23, 2020, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) amended the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to remove the People’s Republic of China (PRC or China) Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong from the list of destinations in the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). This decision is effective immediately. This rule implements a significant change […]