Monday Morning eBriefing

NCBFAA is gathering data on the total cost for freight movement in the current air cargo environment and needs association members to share their input through this survey, so that we can meet our collective goal to properly inform the Biden administration and our nation’s lawmakers on Capitol Hill about the pain-points in this vital component of the international supply chain.

The Federal Maritime Commission on Dec. 28 issued three policy statements that provide new guidance to shippers and others on bringing private party complaints at the commission, addressing barriers identified by the trade community as disincentives to filing actions at the agency.

The ports of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach continue to postpone their “Container Dwell Fee,” this time until Jan. 3. The fee was previously set to take effect on Monday, Dec. 27, after previous postponements.

Congress passed the Customs Business Fairness Act on Dec. 21 as part of the latest coronavirus relief package, changing the way U.S. bankruptcy law will apply to customs brokers when importers become insolvent.

What a year! If you had told me in January that we would all turn from "road warriors" to "couch/zoom warriors," I would not have believed it. And yet, here we are.

Some U.S. companies have found themselves unable to secure refunds on import duties that qualify for exclusions from Section 301 China tariffs because the product exclusions were not granted by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) until after their import entries were liquidated.

Washington, D.C., Dec. 1, 2020 – The National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America (NCBFAA) has appointed Christopher Gillis as communications director, effective Dec. 1.

NCBFAA's 47th Annual Conference is right around the corner! In case you missed it, last week we announced our Annual Conference program. If you haven't had a chance to check it out, we highly recommend that you take a look at one of our most diverse and informative set of panels and discussions we've had to date! These are can't miss topics and issues that will affect the way you and your business operate in the coming year.

The NCBFAA is pleased to announce that the program for our 47th Annual Conference is now available! The NCBFAA Conference Committee has once again done an amazing job assembling the topics and issues most likely to affect the way you and your business operates in the coming year. You'll hear industry leaders and subject matter experts discuss:

On February 5, nearly 1,000 viewers tuned in to an NEI-sponsored webinar featuring the APHIS ACE team and NCBFAA RAC Committee member Stuart Schmidt to learn more about the new APHIS-Core electronic filing requirements, which will be mandatory August 3, 2020. The APHIS team provided an overview of the new process and encouraged brokers to explore the resources APHIS has made available, such as the APHIS Core Trade Guide, which has detailed and useful information for the trade. Right now, electronic filing for APHIS-Core is voluntary, but brokers are urged to begin using ACE for APHIS-Core filings so that you will be ready when the August 3 date arrives. If you missed the webinar, you can access it here.

NCBFAA joined more than 80 other trade organizations to urge House leaders to approve HR 4482, Protecting America's Food and Agriculture Act. The legislation, which NCBFAA members lobbied members of Congress to support during the recent Government Affairs Conference, would authorize funding for additional agriculture inspectors at the ports. In the letter to House Homeland Security Chairman Bennie Thompson and Ranking Member Mike Rogers, the trade associations explained the "vital role" that CBP Agricultural Specialists play in "both trade and travel safety....prevent[ing] the introduction of harmful foreign animal diseases and exotic plant pests into the U.S."

On January 15, 2020, the Federal Maritime Commission ("Commission") held its first meeting of the year. At that time, the Commission voted to issue and publish two final rules: (1) one rule implementing the Frank LoBiondo Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2018, and (2) one modifying the hearing procedures governing the denial, revocation, or suspension of an ocean transportation intermediary ("OTI") license.

Last week, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced that they had selected nine participants to take part in their Section 321 Data pilot. The pilot participants are: Amazon, eBay, Zulily, FedEx, DHL, UPS, PreClear, XB Fulfillment and BoxC Logistics.

n a tweet published on December 31, President Trump announced that he would "be signing our very large and comprehensive Phase One Trade Deal with China on January 15." This signing is scheduled to take place at the White House and will include high level Chinese representatives. In the tweet, the President also announced that he would be going to Beijing at a later date to begin Phase Two of the negotiations.

On December 13, the United States and China came to terms on a Phase One trade agreement that will require China to make structural reforms and other changes to their economic and trade philosophies in the areas of "intellectual property, technology transfer, agriculture, financial services, and currency and foreign exchange." This agreement also requires China to make "substantial additional purchases of U.S. goods and services in the coming years" as well as establishing a strong dispute resolution system. In return, the U.S. is required to modify its Section 301 tariff actions.

In a December 6 CSMS message, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued guidance to the Trade on the fifth round of product exclusions for Tranche 3 of the Section 301 investigation.

On November 26, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced a list of new Section 301 product exclusions from the third list of products from China. These exclusions are retroactive from September 24, 2018 and will continue to August 7, 2020. U.S. Customs and Border Protection CBP) will issue instructions on entry guidance and implementation. The product list has "32 specially prepared product descriptions, which cover 39 separate exclusion requests."

On November 20, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued guidance on submitting entries containing products granted exclusions from the third tranche of Section 301 tariffs.

On December 17, 2018, the Federal Maritime Commission ("Commission") issued a notice of proposed rulemaking ("NPRM") in its Docket No. 18-11 to somewhat amend the OTI regulations. Although the NPRM was primarily administrative in nature, the NCBFAA filed comments opposing any reduction in the term of OTI licenses.

In the November 13 edition of the Federal Register, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced a new set of Section 301 product exclusions on the third set of tariffs on Chinese goods. According to the notice, the "product exclusions announced in this notice will apply as of the September 24, 2018, effective date of the $200 billion action, to August 7, 2020."