Updated Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) Alert
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) published an update to deploy enhanced collection of information on imports related to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA). On March 18, 2023, CBP will deploy programming to the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE), to require the reporting of all postal codes for manufacturers of China. We recommend Importers contact [...]
U.S. Imposes Increased Tariffs on the Russian Federation
U.S. Imposes 200% Aluminium Tariff & Increases other Tariffs on Certain Articles from the Russian Federation. On February 24, 2023, President Biden announced increased tariffs on certain articles imported from the Russian Federation. The modification proposed will add new articles to be targeted and subject to the original 35% tariff. Additionally, a new group of [...]
Forced Labor Prevention Webinars Offered
U.S. Customs and Border Protection will host two webinars in January addressing Forced Labor prevention requirements. You must register for each webinar individually. The Office of Trade will host a webinar on January 26, 2023, at 2:00 p.m., ET. This webinar, Forced Labor 101, will focus on forced labor topics including relevant legislation, CBP enforcement, [...]
Three-Month Extension for Section 301 China Product Exclusions
The United States Trade Representative (USTR) published 87 FR 73383, extending COVID-19 related Section 301 product exclusions for three additional months, now through February 28, 2023. The entire notice may be found here. The original Federal Register Notice (FRN) , published by the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), confirming the impacted HTS Codes involved are provided [...]
Connor Hosts UMD Students For Informational Tour
Recently, John S. Connor hosted a group of University of Maryland students from the Robert H. Smith School of Business to learn about logistics operations and services. This opportunity afforded Maryland Smith undergraduate and MBA students interested in companies with global operations, supply chain and logistics, to learn about concepts in international business while highlighting industry [...]
Senate Votes To Avert National Rail Strike
On Thursday, the Senate voted to avert a looming strike of the nation's railway workers - which could have been an economic catastrophe. Congress' decision to end the labor fight came as the White House emphasized that they felt lawmakers should send legislation "by this weekend" to avert a work stoppage or the nation could [...]
House Votes to Avert National Freight Rail Strike
We have been watching the difficult railroad labor negotiations. This is not a done deal and we need to continue to watch the situation closely and be ready for further supply chain challenges. Today, the House voted for legislation aimed at blocking a national rail strike. The House passed a separate bill that would give [...]
New System for CBMA Imports
The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) has launched their “myTTB” system for Craft Beverage Modernization Act (CBMA) foreign producer registrations for imported products. TTB will assume responsibility on January 1, 2023 for administering the CBMA tax benefits for imported alcohol. Importers will now pay the full tax rate at entry and subsequently [...]
Ningbo Port Lockdown Due to COVID
Effective October 16, 2022, the Ningbo port area is under a lockdown due to COVID. This lockdown is expected to last longer than seven days. For any urgent LCL shipments originating in the area, we recommend that cargo be switched to Shanghai CFS origin to prevent delays. Note CFS status of affected facilities below: • [...]
Rail Union Rejects Contract Terms With Freight Carriers.
On Monday, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Division track maintenance workers voted to oppose the five-year contract. Over half of the workers rejected a 24 percent raise and $5,000 bonuses. Union President Tony Cardwell said “the railroads didn’t do enough to address the lack of paid time off — particularly sick time — and [...]