Featured Headlines:
CBP Wants to DIS Steel and Aluminum
No Cotton Fee Reimbursements Issued by CBP
Census to Continue EEI Filing in Puerto Rico and USVI
DHS Launches Cyber Safety Review Board
The Ambassador Blockade Cascade
US Wins Gold Medal in Trade Deficit!
China Ties USA for Finger Pointing Gold
Ongoing Phyto Fight
- The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) agreed to extend the acceptance of electronic phytosanitary certificates and forms through the Digital Image System (DIS) until September 30, 2022.
- APHIS plans to once again reevaluate the situation by July 2022 (90 days prior to deadline) to determine if another extension is required.
- Click here to view the official APHIS notice.
CBP Wants to DIS Steel and Aluminum
- As a reminder, steel mill certifications, statements of metal components of aluminum and—for entries from the European Union (EU)—aluminum certificates of analysis are required to be submitted at the time of importation to US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) via DIS.
- These documents are required for supporting entry and entry summary information, such as: HTSUS classification, antidumping and countervailing duty (AD/CVD) orders, Section 232 duty/quota/exclusion/melt and pour requirements, and more.
- Click here to view CSMS #50930928.
No Cotton Fee Reimbursements Issued by CBP
- Did you know that CBP does not issue refunds for agricultural fees, such as cotton?
- Although a Post Summary Correction (PSC) must be filed in order to correct the customs entry, CBP will not issue the refund based on the PSC.
- Instead, importers must seek any refunds of overpayment directly from the Cotton Board; to learn more about the reimbursement application, click here.
Census to Continue EEI Filing in Puerto Rico and USVI
- The Census Bureau announced its decision to continue the current Electronic Export Information (EEI) filing requirement for Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands (USVI); it will also continue to publish the US Trade with Puerto Rico and US Possessions (FT–895) Publication Series.
- The decision was made after careful consideration based on feedback received from an Advance Notice of Proposed Rule Making (ANPRM) published in the Federal Register (FR) in September 2020 on the overall impact of the removal of the EEI filing requirements for shipments between the US, Puerto Rico and the USVI.
- At this time, shippers can expect the cost associated with filing EEI to remain the same.
- Click here to read the official FR notice.
DHS Launches Cyber Safety Review Board
- The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is launching the first-ever Cyber Safety Review Board (CSRB) in the hopes that it can bring government and industry leaders together in an added effort to elevate our nation’s cybersecurity.
- The unprecedented public-private initiative will review and assess significant cybersecurity events so that government, industry, and the broader security community can better protect our nation’s networks and infrastructure.
- Interested in discovering ways to enhance the security of your business? Contact us to learn more about the benefits of CTPAT.
Merger Slurge Emerges
- On Monday, the boards of low-cost carriers Frontier Airlines and Spirit Airlines approved a merger deal worth $6.6 billion.
- Upon completion of the marriage, the airline will emerge as the 5th largest in the US.
- The merger must still undergo shareholder and regulatory approval, but industry pundits believe the deal will come to fruition later this year.
- The carriers only overlap on 520 of 2,800 existing routes, and the new airline hopes to add 10,000 new jobs by 2026.
- Due to the pending approvals, the new name, headquarters location, and CEO have yet to be announced.
The Ambassador Blockade Cascade
- The Ambassador Bridge, the busiest border crossing between Canada and the US, remains blockaded as part of the Canadian trucker protest over new vaccine mandates.
- An estimated 20% of US-Canada trade transits the Ambassador Bridge— which links Windsor, Canada with Detroit on the US side.
- With two other main crossings also blocked, the supply chain snarls and delays are cascading across the world’s largest land border.
- Over 100 trucks continue to intentionally jam the main access road to the bridge from the Canadian side.
US Wins Gold Medal in Trade Deficit!
- With December’s results in hand, the US Commerce Department announced that the US trade deficit established a new annual record of $859.1 billion in 2021.
- The trade gap surged 27% from 2020’s $676.7 billion.
- On a positive note, US exports rose by more than 18% by value, but American appetite for imports grew 21% to nearly $3.4 trillion for the year.
China Ties USA for Finger Pointing Gold
- The US Commerce Department added 33 Chinese entities to its unverified list making it very difficult for US exporters to ship to these companies, universities, and suppliers of aerospace and electronics products.
- China’s Commerce Ministry immediately commented that Washington should correct its own “wrongdoings”, and the United States should return to the track of cooperation and contribute more to the global economic recovery.
- Though unverified, it has also been reported that both Beijing and Washington have said, “my Dad can beat up your Dad.”
- Stock in WuXi Biologics, a company named in the new unverified list, fell more than 25% on Tuesday, lowering the firm’s market value by nearly $10 billion. Ooof!
SAF Fuels Greener Image
- Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) is jet fuel produced from waste oils blended with traditional fossil jet fuel; the result is a cleaner substitute. An estimated 3% of man-made global carbon emissions come from the airline industry, and that number is growing.
- AirFrance/KLM made headlines this week by signing a 3-year agreement to buy 8.7 million gallons of SAF.
- In December, United Airlines flew the first 100% SAF-powered commercial flight from Chicago to Washington DC.
- American Airlines’ dedication to carbon reduction led them to commit to buy 16 million gallons of SAF over seven years beginning in 2024, while Boeing announced the immediate purchase of 2 million gallons on February 10th.
- An airline can expect an 80% reduction of CO2 emissions by using SAF. Surprisingly, SAF also creates better fuel efficiency while increasing potential payloads and flight ranges.
Pressure Measure Refresher
- After three months averaging over 100 vessels at anchor in the harbor, the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles reported “only” 78 vessels in queue early this week—this is a 23% decline since February 1st.
- While many industry pundits celebrated the news as the end of the peak surge, the New York Federal Reserve (NYFR) is more cautious.
- After unprecedented congestion and ocean rates directly drove US inflation higher, the NYFR created a monthly Global Supply Chain Pressure Index, which considers 27 different variables to score total pressure.
- In a simplified way of looking at the index, the current US supply chain is 425% more screwed up and less efficient than normal (the NYFR calls this 4.25 “standard deviations from normal”).
- Unfortunately, the peak supply chain chaos was 4.37 standard deviations in October 2021.
- Thus, the NYFR estimates that the supply chain has improved by just 2.7% YTD, despite the somewhat positive news in Southern California.
- Hang on folks, this ride ain’t over just yet!
