News Articles

Act of 2022

Understanding the America Competes Act of 2022 – What Upcoming Major Changes to International Trade Law Should You Know About?

The House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology recently voted to advance the America Competes Act of 2022 “the Act.” This comes after the Senate passed its version of the bill, the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, in June of 2021. The focus of the Act is to strengthen America’s scientific and technological activities in the 21st Century, in order to be able to compete with China in these critical fields in the future.

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antidumping

I Just Found Out My Imported Goods are Subject to Antidumping – What Should I do?

Currently there are close to 400 active antidumping cases involving nearly 40 countries. The cases cover a wide range of products including steel commodity products and steel articles (number one category), chemical products, other metal commodities and articles, plastics and rubber products, food products, paperboard and manufactured articles. Key countries subject to ADD are China (number one country by far), Korea, Indonesia, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, and Vietnam.

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Prior Disclosure

2022: Prior Disclosure Woes

The year is 2022, and companies are turning over a new leaf, making a concerted effort to become compliant with U.S. Customs laws and practices. Seemingly, there are no downsides to conducting a comprehensive Customs compliance review and submitting a Prior Disclosure under 19 U.S.C. § 1592(c)(4) and 19 C.F.R. § 162.74.

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Harmonized Tariff

Shiny New Machines – Modifications to Chapter 84 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule

There are new tariff classifications for machinery under Chapter 84 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”). The changes to Chapter 84, as well as many other areas of the HTSUS, took effect on January 27, 2022, pursuant to Presidential Proclamation 10326 (December 23, 2021). Many of the changes to Chapter 84 were made to keep up with technological innovations and commercial use.

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vietnam trade

Vietnam Trade, An Overview 2022

Many factors have contributed to reshaping and redefining Vietnam’s growing dynamic economy, which had once been coined by the United States as an underdeveloped country but is aggressively emerging to a developing country status.

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Countervailing Duty

New Importer, Old Baggage Successor Liability for Antidumping & Countervailing Duties

Imagine your company imports from a vendor in Vietnam and sells them at a competitive margin in the U.S. Business is so-so until the Department of Commerce conducts an Antidumping or Countervailing Duty (“AD/CVD”) review that encompasses your company or its foreign vendor and determines the origin of your goods to be China, which causes you to owe backlogged AD/CVD at rates over 100% ad valorem for the past year.

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trump tariffs

Trump-Era Tariffs – Any Relief On The Horizon?

The costly Trump-Era tariffs and trade policies have largely remained in effect nearly a year into the Biden Administration. Now more than ever, importers are looking for ways to avoid or mitigate duty exposure. Below is the lowdown of present relief from the Trump tariffs and a forecast of further relief to come.

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nuclear export controls

Nuclear Export Controls: A Brief Overview of NRC and DoE Regulations

Two bodies of export regulations typically come to mind when we think of export controls: the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) of the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) of the State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC).

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cfdi

Complemento Carta Porte in Mexico

Generally, Mexican taxpayers are required to issue a CFDI for their acts, duties, income, or tax retentions. The so called CFDI is an acronym for Comprobante Fiscal Digital por Internet , and some refer to it as the electronic invoice.

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Chinas-dual-circulation

China’s Dual Circulation Policy

Almost two years now into the global pandemic and the world’s two most powerful economies are having to take a hard long look at their supply chain shortcomings, as well as becoming economically self-sufficient to a great extent. During the pandemic it became painfully obvious that the U.S. has become far too dependent on China for imports of many essential needs.

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incoterms

Incoterms – Two Years Later

In September 2019, the International Chamber of Commerce released Incoterms 2020, heralded as a groundbreaking version of Incoterms that would bring great change to the supply chain community. Two years later, we look back on the changes that occurred and how they have affected us.

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Open General Licenses

DDTC is Open to Open General Licenses

Some may be familiar with Open General Licenses (OGLs) used in the United Kingdom and some other countries. They allow export of dual-use, strategic and other controlled articles to specific destinations under certain conditions.

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sanctions

Evaluating the Efficacy of Sanctions on Russia

Since the Kremlin’s February 24th invasion of Ukraine, western countries have put in place extensive global financial ramifications. To gauge the extent of effectiveness, one must decipher the numbers behind Russia’s deceiving published economic statistics. One staggering implication of the trade war with the west lies within the entire collapse of the GDP growth acquired in the post-Soviet era.

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impact dao

ImpactDAOs: Shaping the Future of Regenerative Organizations

As Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) have exploded into public consciousness, new types of DAOs are proliferating. A novel use case for DAOs, termed “ImpactDAOs”, are defined as “any DAO that creates net positive externalities to the ecosystem around it.” An ImpactDAO seeks to use web3 and crypto-economic principles to regenerate a system, increasing resources and sustainability over time.

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russian gas sanctions

European Countries Beware, Winter Is Coming, with Ice King Putin Leading the Charge

If you haven’t heard the words Ukraine or Russia within the last 5 months, one would assume that you must live under a rock, or that you’ve just decided to tune them out. Just as it seemed that we were on our way to being in the clear from the COVID pandemic and getting back to a little bit of normalcy within the global supply chain, the ever-so-sweet Putin decided to invade the Ukraine.

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ipef

U.S. Initiates Indo-Pacific Economic Framework in the South Pacific

On May 23 in Tokyo, Japan, the U.S., and other countries in the Pacific region launched the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (“IPEF”). The countries included are Australia, Brunei, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

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uflpa

CBP Releases Guidance related to Complying with the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) released its first set of guidance relating to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (“UFLPA”), which is set to take effect on June 21, 2022. CBP’s guidance takes the form of a website that is a homepage for UFLPA-related guidance, FAQs, webinars, graphics, and CBP contact information. This essential UFLPA homepage can be accessed at: www.cbp.gov/trade/forced-labor/UFLPA.

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food insecurity

Incursion and World Trade, Part 3: Over 120+ Days into the Global Effect of Inevitable Food Insecurity

Here we are, at the time of this writing over four months into the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with no end in sight. I will personally submit that I am, appalled that this, the murder of innocent civilians and devastation of another country’s infrastructure, can be permitted to continue, as we watch from the sidelines as if it was just another simple documentary on another war.

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section 301

Understanding the Statutory Four-Year Review Period of the Tariffs

Many importers are eagerly awaiting the United States Trade Representative’s (“USTR”) required four-year review of the Section 301 Chinese tariffs. Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 grants the Office of the USTR a range of responsibilities and authorities to investigate and take action to enforce U.S. rights under trade agreements and respond to certain foreign trade practices.

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