Monday Morning eBriefing

It is with profound sadness that NCBFAA notifies our membership of the sudden passing of Howard J. Woltmann III of Long Island, New York, on Oct. 10. He was 63. Bob was a Past President of the JFK Airport Customs Brokers & Freight Forwarders Association and a member of the association’s Board of Directors. Through Overton & Co. Air Services Inc. in Elmont, New York, of which he served as President, Howard was also an active member of NCBFAA over the years.

This analysis regarding the Court of International Trade (CIT) class certification for pursuing future IEEPA tariff refunds is provided to our Customs Broker Members by NCBFAA Customs Counsel and Legislative Advisor of Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A. New developments in the ongoing IEEPA tariff refund process highlight that filing a lawsuit with the Court of International Trade remains the surest, quickest way to obtain such refunds, particularly for importers of record with a substantial potential refund amount.

A summary of the latest legislative and regulatory transport, logistics and trade sector updates brought to you by our NCBFAA Transportation Counsel firm Venable.

The Softwood Lumber Board has identified importers who have not been consistently calculating board feet for the softwood lumber fee. The board administers a nationally coordinated program of research, development, advertising, and promotion designed to strengthen the softwood lumber industry’s position in the marketplace, and to establish, maintain, and expand markets for softwood lumber products pursuant to the Softwood Lumber Research, Promotion, Consumer Education, and Industry Information Order (Order) (7 CFR Part 1217).

On behalf of NCBFAA's Board of Directors, Leadership and Staff, we want to take a moment to acknowledge and welcome Altar Logistics, Docxster, Hermes International Logistics, Kelly Global Logistics, Worchel Transport dba Prime Transport, and Zufall Logistics USA, which have recently joined our association. We're so excited to have these firms join our organization and we are happy to assist in any way we can!

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has announced the extension of the compliance date for new informal entry procedures for international mail from Oct. 22, 2026, to Jan. 20, 2027. The 90-day extension provides importers, customs brokers, and logistics providers additional time to update their processes while helping avoid disruptions to certain international postal shipments destined for the U.S., the agency said.

After investigating reports of restrictive port practices by the Government of Spain, the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) said it has determined that Spain has created “unfavorable shipping conditions” against U.S.-flagged vessels. As a result, the FMC has proposed remedies to counteract those unfavorable conditions, including charging fees for all Spanish-flagged vessels and restricting the import of certain Spanish goods.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced to the trade that Harmonized System Update (HSU) 2626 was created on Oct. 9 and contains 4 harmonized tariff records and 14 ABI records. This HSU contains Section 232 and PGA HTS flagging updates.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Oct. 14 updated the Electronic Export Manifest (EEM) ACE Exports Truck X12- 309 Customs Manifest Implementation Guide to include VEH22 “Reference Identification Qualifier” to Data Element Summary table in Section: VEH.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced on Oct. 13 that the Cargo Release Condition Codes document has been posted to cbp.gov. The following changes include the Error code 336 -- INVOICE/MERCH DESC REQUIRED FOR ET13. CBP said this validation rule pertains to the Commercial Invoice Description in the SE40 record.

A summary of the latest customs and cross-border trade regulatory updates brought to you by our NCBFAA Customs Counsel firm Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg.

Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Executive Director of Import Surveillance, Jim Joholske, told NCBFAA that the CPSC is "very pleased" with the implementation of import certificate eFiling. He thanked the association's customs broker members for their efforts to get the trade ready for e-Filing certificate data. "There's no doubt about it, your involvement helped drive participation," he said.

Starting Saturday, Oct. 10, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will require email or short message service (SMS) verification for Automated Clearinghouse (ACH) refund information changes made in the ACE Secure Data Portal. The agency said, "this additional verification step enhances ACE Portal security while maximizing flexibility for users."

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) invites comments by Nov. 9 regarding the current and potential impact of the European Union's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) on overall U.S. trade with the EU. Specifically, USTR requests comments on the impact of the CBAM on U.S. trade with the EU, as well as the potential impact of the EU's proposals to expand CBAM coverage. Such comments will help inform continued USTR and U.S. government engagement with the EU on CBAM.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) is starting a public consultation process in advance of the 2027 annual joint review meeting of the USMCA between the U.S., Mexico and Canada. As directed by Congress, USTR requests public comments on the operation of the trilateral trade agreement. USTR must receive all written comments and requests to appear at the public hearing by 11:59 p.m. ET on Jan. 12, 2027.

The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) provided guidance to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) regarding the assessment of “U.S. content” for products of Canada and Mexico that qualify for preferential tariff treatment under the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA), for purposes of implementing tariffs pursuant to Proclamation 11032 of June 1, 2026. Specifically, the guidance presented in this notice is effective with respect to products that are entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after 12:01 a.m. ET on Oct. 14.

It is with profound sadness that NCBFAA notifies our membership of the recent passing of Robert Coleman of Tigard, Oregon, on Sept. 29. He was 78. Bob was a Past President of both the Columbia River Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association (CRCBFA) and Pacific Coast Council (PCC) of Customs Brokers and Freight Forwarders Association and served as a NCBFAA Board Member (Area 6). Over the years, he became an outspoken defender of the U.S. freight forwarding industry not only in the Pacific Northwest region but nationally through his testimony on Capitol Hill.

A summary of the latest legislative and regulatory transport, logistics and trade sector updates brought to you by our NCBFAA Transportation Counsel firm Venable.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) now has three commissioners following the recent Senate confirmation of Karen Sessions and Brian Lorenz. For almost a year, the CPSC had only one commissioner with no quorum to conduct new business, hampering the commission's ability to move forward on new regulatory initiatives. Now that the CPSC has a quorum, it has the operational capacity to pursue new enforcement and regulatory actions.

On behalf of NCBFAA's Board of Directors, Leadership and Staff, we want to take a moment to acknowledge and welcome American Commercial Transport, D’Ann L. Brown, Hoist AI, Imago Logistics, Jose Munoz & Associates, and Lu Liu, which have recently joined our association. We're so excited to have these firms join our organization and we are happy to assist in any way we can!