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DHS Official Surprised CBP Wasn't Included in Supply Chain EO

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. -- Some career government officials were surprised that President Joe Biden’s executive order on securing supply chains (see 2102240047) didn’t specifically mention CBP, omitting one of the most important agencies for trade regulation. “I was taken a little back,” said Amy Strauss, a senior Department of Homeland Security official. She said the fact that it didn’t include CBP “raises your eyebrows.”

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Strauss, speaking Oct. 15 during the Western Cargo Conference, said more work “still needs to be done in D.C. on understanding what our authorities are in this world.” She said there is “often” confusion about whether certain trade authorities fall under CBP or Commerce Department jurisdiction and stressed that CBP is open to feedback on supply chain issues referenced in the executive order. “There's only one customs agency, right? Do not pass go. It’s within DHS,” said Strauss, DHS’s deputy assistant secretary for trade and economic security. “So we’re still looking and asking for your assistance when we're talking about the supply chain.”

Strauss added that supply chain concerns are among the top issues being examined by DHS, CBP and the rest of the administration, specifically the global chip shortage and imports of rare earth materials. While she said semiconductor supply chains have always been important, the COVID-19 pandemic has “taken a magnifying glass to these issues and really almost stress-tested the system.” She said DHS and other agencies are specifically looking for industry input on “what needs to be done to ensure not only domestic production, but safe importing in these areas and effective importing.”

She specifically pointed to the Homeland Security Advisory Council, which she said will be the best place for industry to submit feedback to DHS about import issues and advocate for regulatory and policy changes. The council hasn't yet met under the Biden administration, but Strauss said DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is “intending to form the HSAC” soon, and “that’s significant. Think of it as the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee for the department.” She urged industry to “please watch for that, track that, participate absolutely as much as you can, because that is where a lot of the decision-making is being made.”