On Friday, March 13, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced that just 11 (eleven) exclusions from the second round of Section 301 tariff exclusions on List 1 goods will be granted extensions. As the exclusions for the second round of List 1 goods were set to expire on March 25, 2020, this […]

Dear Valued Customers, Firstly, our hearts go out to the many victims of the COVID-19 pandemic.   We are quite sure that the global news may worsen in the coming weeks and months and we hope you, your families, and your companies remain safe. Unlike the Hanjin collapse or the Maersk-Damco cyberattack, we did have some […]

Today, March 13th, 2020, Canada’s House of Commons unanimously voted to adopt the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) – known in Canada as CUSMA. It was then approved by the Senate less than an hour later, before Canadian legislators enter a brief recess until April 20th due to the Coronavirus outbreak. Already passed by Mexico and […]

On Thursday, March 12th, American Airlines announced it would be suspending flights to the 26 newly restricted European countries within the Schengen Area beginning next week (March 14th – 19th) until May 7th or June 4th, depending on the lane.  American also announced that they will be delaying the start of their seasonal Rome service, […]

As the Coronavirus (COVID-19) officially enters pandemic status this week, President Trump announced a 30-day ban on all passenger air travel from Europe to the U.S. beginning Friday, March 13th at 11:59 PM (EDT). According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), any foreign nationals traveling within or from the 26 European states that […]

Per our previous Shap Flash, President Trump authorized the U.S. to impose an additional 25% tariff on certain steel products — and an additional 10% tariff on certain aluminum products — in response to the lack of positive results from existing 232 tariffs. The U.S. Department of Commerce has now released an official list of […]

Related to yesterday’s ShapFlash: in wake of the rapidly spreading Coronavirus, the Chinese government has decided to extend its Lunar New Year an additional 3 days– from January 30th to February 2nd – in all cities except Shanghai and Ningbo. In the Shanghai and Ningbo provinces, which are closer to Wuhan, the New Year extensions […]

The deadly Coronavirus, which has already negatively impacted trade, has now claimed up to 80 lives and infected over 2,700 people. Wuhan, which served as ground zero for the outbreak, is still actively in the process of cancelling events and imposing mandatory quarantines. In a report released this weekend, the Chinese government had already decided […]

In a statement made on Friday, January 24th, President Trump announced the imposition of an additional 25% tariff on certain steel products—and an additional 10% tariff on certain aluminum products—that  will go into effect on February 8th. The President cited the lack of positive results from existing 232 tariffs, amidst a surge of steel and […]

China has commenced the process of reducing the number of ships calling the city of Wuhan in an effort to avoid the further spread of the Coronavirus, a deadly respiratory infection that first catalyzed in central China last week. A number of ships have been left idling along the Yangtze River, which serves as an […]

Additional Section 301 tariffs that were set to be imposed against imports of French champagne, cheeses and handbags (among other products) will no longer take effect. The additional tariffs were originally introduced in retaliation to France’s proposed digital service tax, which would have negatively impacted Google, Facebook and other large U.S. operators. On Tuesday, January […]

On Wednesday, January 15th, the U.S. and China officially ratified Phase One of their planned trade deal. The key component of Phase One involves China’s purchase of an additional $200 billion in American exports. At this time, it does not appear that the USTR has specified the exact purchases to be made, but has rather […]