SME’s are small and medium-sized enterprises that make-up the backbone of world trade and growth.
Amazon is a good representation of what SME’s can accomplish in a well-orchestrated partnership.
Customs authorities may investigate companies´ compliance with the customs procedures and rules of origin and initiate a new origin verification proceeding against those that used a NAFTA Certificate within a 5 year retroactive period.
Many people are aware of the Section 301 investigation into the unfair trade practices of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). However, a similar investigation has recently been initiated by the United States Trade Representative (USTR) into actions by Vietnam.
Although 2020 is not over yet (unfortunately), the Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) has had a busy year by any measure.
By Bob Brewer, Braumiller Law Group It doesn’t seem that long ago, but it was, (October of 2018) that I wrote an article called “What’s
In the chaos of a pandemic, “the show must go on”, and indeed, the regulators in Washington D.C. did just that—in the form of far reaching and noteworthy changes in re-export restrictions to China and companies like Huawei.
On November 15, 2020, leaders of fifteen Asia-Pacific countries signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) via a virtual signing ceremony.
In a Federal Register Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, dated Oct. 28, 2020, U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP) proposed a program for continuing education for licensed individual customs brokers.
On September 10, 2020, HMTX Industries and related companies, Halstead and Metroflor, filed a lawsuit in the Court of International Trade (“CIT”) alleging that the U.S. Trade Representative (“USTR”) exceeded its authority when it issued tariffs under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 (“Trade Act”).
On April 6, 2017, Mexico published in the Mexican Official Gazette an enactment decree to amend the Marrakech Agreement that created the World Trade Organization (WTO). This amendment consisted of the incorporation of the Agreement on Trade Facilitation (ATF) set out in Annex 1A to the WTO Agreement.
On September 11, 2020, the U.S. Department of Commerce International Trade Administration published a final rule modifying its regulations pertaining to the Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) System.
Colleges and universities – Ivy covered buildings with students and faculty engaged in academic pursuits.
Colleges and universities – Hotbeds of export control concerns. What??
The halls of academia have increasingly become involved with export control issues. There are several ways that universities are potentially affected by export controls, including:
As many importers are aware, a lawsuit was brought against the United States arguing that the List 3 and List 4A tariffs violated The Trade Act of 1974, as well as the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). Once the initial lawsuit was filed by HMTX on September 10th, companies rushed to find trade counsel to submit a lawsuit on their behalf.
On the morning of September 15th our firm released a notification to importers that there was a case filed with the CIT that may possibly pave the way to refunds on the Section 301 tariffs. We expected a fairly decent response, and what we got was 10x’s that in importer’s knocking on our door to file a case.
Since the outbreak of the COVID 19 pandemic we’ve witnessed a myriad of businesses in all areas of commerce crash or even succumb all together to the drastic, unforeseen and continuing prohibitions and restrictions which have dramatically changed our ways of life around the world.
On July 14, 2020, the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) ruled that the doubling of Section 232 duties on imports of Turkish steel after the initial imposition of the original national security duties at 25% is a violation of the Fifth Amendment guarantee of equal protection and due process.
A quick scroll through the social media app TikTok will lead you to “thirst trap” videos, Sheena Melwani playing a beautiful song on her keyboard while her “dad” provides hilarious quips, dogs like Tina the Chi doing crazy chihuahua things, and couples like Thirsty on Main providing relationship advice and looks into their daily lives.
Have you heard about the Mexican “Fourth Transformation (4T)”? Well, this is how Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) wants his term in office to be known as. He says, throughout the course of the history, Mexico has gone through 3 important episodes: 1. Independence, 2. Reform, 3. Revolution, and 4…: the 4T.
Determining the country of origin of imported articles has become increasingly important in recent years. There has long been a requirement that imported articles be marked with the name of the country of origin. Country of origin also determines eligibility for special duties or free trade agreements.
The USMCA recently went into effect on July 1, 2020, which ended the twenty-six years reign of NAFTA. A major focus of the new agreement was to update the regulations relating to the automotive sector.
Are you importing into Mexico and your customs operation requires the services of a Mexican Customs broker? If the answer is yes, then this information is important for you because errors or violations on your operation, even if committed by the broker or its personnel, might hold you as the responsible party before the eyes of the authority.
Customs Tools of Trade Provision – A Useful Tool ?
Tuesday, February 15th
10:30 a.m. – noon CST
Webinar
Tariff classification-related court precedents have significantly shaped the way importers, brokers, consultants, lawyers, and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) classify goods today under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS, or simply HTS).
In December, CBP announced a four-phase transition to a Modernized ACE Portal and decommissioning the legacy ACE Portal. We are currently in Phase I and already seeing client impacts.
Wednesday, February 16th, 2022
11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. CST
Holiday Inn IAH
15222 JFK Blvd.
Houston, TX 77032
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
