Executive Order Places Reporting Burden on Express Couriers and Customs Brokers to Report Importers
On Friday, January 31, 2020, President Trump issued an executive order reiterating the policy of the United States regarding persons who facilitate imports of merchandise in direct violation of Federal laws and calling for the Secretary of Homeland Security to issue a notice of proposed rule-making to establish criteria an importer must meet before obtaining an importer of record (IOR) number.
Supply Chain – Speed Kills: What is driving this, and where is the speed coming from?
āWhen can I get it?ā Consumers have an insatiable appetite for speed. Just a few years ago, Dell made the news that you could get a customized laptop in just a few weeks. Now, Amazon sets the pace that you can get almost anything in 2 days, and some items much faster
REIGNCORE: The USMCA has been Ratified!
One of the many improvements from NAFTA in the newly-ratified United States Mexico Canada Agreement (āUSMCAā), is the added ability of your business to directly engage in an ongoing dialogue with a permanently established USMCA committee, whose express purpose is to work with businesses in order to clarify terms of control of the USMCA as well as improve the implementation of this brand new tripartite trade agreement.
Airbus SE Export Settlement Agreement: What can be learned from their mistakes?
Iām sure by now, youāve read, or at least heard of, the Airbus SE multi-billion dollar settlement with U.S., French and UK authorities, for FCPA and Export violationsāthe largest penalty that I can recall in my 30+ years in international trade! Although, Iāve had extensive experience in anti-bribery and anti-corruption (ABAC) matters…
Updates with Chinese Trade War
President Trump signed the Phase 1 Agreement with China on January 15, 2020. As part of the agreement, China has pledged to purchase $200 billion worth of goods and services over the next two years ā this would be a 50% increase from the current levels. The $200 billion worth of goods and services is broken down into four main categories over 2020 and 2021…
Ambitious Free Trade in 2020 and the African Continent
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is a free trade area, outlined in the African Continental Free Trade Agreement among 54 of the 55 African Union nations. The free-trade area is the largest in the world in terms of participating countries since the formation of the World Trade Organization. Nigeria and Benin were the hold outs until July of 2019.
Classification: A Necessary Evil or Helpful Tool?
Determining the correct classification of goods is arguably paramount to any good trade compliance program. However, many companies misclassify their goods at an astonishing rate. While this may be good for business for trade compliance consultants like myself, it isnāt good when it comes time for our clientās Customs audits.
Department of Homeland Security Announces Actions to Combat E-Commerce Counterfeiting
S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) data shows that between the years 2000 and 2018, seizures of counterfeit goods at U.S. borders have increased 10-fold, from 3,244 seizures per year to 33,810. In response to this surge, in April of last year, the Trump Administration published its Memorandum on Combating Trafficking in Counterfeit and Pirated Goods…
Updated VSD Policies: How Could this Affect you?
While the United States Trade Representative is currently inundated with Section 301 exclusion requests, the Department of Justiceās (DOJ) National Security Divisionās (NSD) recent update could be encouraging an influx of voluntary self-disclosures (VSDs) to the U.S. export agencies and the DOJ in the near future.
Japan-US Free Trade Agreement ā Not All it Appears to Be
On Jan. 1, 2020 the Japan-United States Free Trade Agreement went into effect. The agreement provides duty-free, or reduced duty treatment, for certain Japanese imports into the U.S. and certain U.S. exports to Japan. The implementation details were printed in the Federal Register on Dec. 30, 2019 (84 FR 72187).
