The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach postponed until next week consideration of a new surcharge meant to incentivize the movement of dwelling containers, the two California ports announced Nov. 15. The ports originally said they would begin imposing the fee Nov. 15 (see 2111030027) but pushed the start date to Nov. 22 because of the “significant improvement in clearing import containers from our docks in recent weeks,” Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka said.
Ian Cohen
Ian Cohen, Deputy Managing Editor, is a reporter with Export Compliance Daily and its sister publications International Trade Today and Trade Law Daily, where he covers export controls, sanctions and international trade issues. He previously worked as a local government reporter in South Florida. Ian graduated with a journalism degree from the University of Florida in 2017 and lives in Washington, D.C. He joined the staff of Warren Communications News in 2019.
Shippers were caught off guard by a new surcharge announced this week by the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports that could exacerbate unfair detention and demurrage fees, members of the Federal Maritime Commission’s Shipper Advisory Committee said. The ports announced a surcharge to ocean carriers for containers that dwell at terminals, a fee that will likely be passed on to shippers, members said during the committee’s inaugural meeting Oct. 27 (see 2109100008 and 2110140001).
Tariffs imposed on goods from China during the previous administration likely contributed to the ongoing chip shortage, though an increasing demand and port congestion are bigger factors, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., said. Speaking during an Oct. 20 event hosted by The Washington Post, both underscored the severity of the supply chain crisis and said lawmakers should move faster to pass legislation that would provide more funding to the semiconductor industry.
RANCHO MIRAGE, California -- Lawyers are seeing a rise in cases filed against customs brokers for failing to meet their fiduciary duties, said Cameron Roberts, a Roberts & Kehagiaras trade attorney. Many of the cases involve importers who allege their brokers didn’t correctly advise them about issues related to forced labor, Section 301 tariffs and certain agriculture imports, he said. “All of these issues are being put at the foot of the broker,” Roberts said, speaking during the Oct. 15 Western Cargo Conference.
RANCHO MIRAGE, California -- CBP has faced some delays with beginning the next term of the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee, but it is very close to holding its first meeting, said AnnMarie Highsmith, CBP’s executive assistant commissioner in the Office of Trade. Highsmith also said the agency is on track to revamp its system for collecting customs duties, taxes and fees by 2024, and said its Section 321 data pilot has been a “big success.”
RANCHO MIRAGE, California -- Two CBP officials acknowledged the continuing struggles faced by importers conducting forced labor due diligence and said the agency is working to make its investigations and detentions more transparent (see 2107210040). As CBP continues to issue withhold release orders (see 2103120051), AnnMarie Highsmith, CBP’s executive assistant commissioner in the Office of Trade, said the agency is hoping to better address importer concerns and encouraged feedback on enforcement efforts.
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.”
Although U.S. traders would widely welcome the U.S. rejoining the Trans-Pacific Partnership, industry officials are disappointed with the country’s lack of urgency on the trade pact and don't expect the Biden administration to prioritize the deal before its term ends. While they said mini trade deals, such as the 2020 agreement with Japan (see 1912050058), can serve as “short-term” bandages, they aren’t nearly enough to make up for the benefits U.S. traders would have received under TPP.
CBP will no longer classify shipments of certain used vehicles from the U.S. to Puerto Rico as exports, CBP said in an Aug. 24 message. Although the change will eliminate some filing requirements, others will remain, including certain Electronic Export Information filings.
The Federal Maritime Commission this week issued a series of long-awaited recommendations to address issues in the international freight delivery system that have been exacerbated over the past year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The recommendations, which resulted from Commissioner Rebecca Dye’s fact-finding mission that began in March 2020, aim to minimize barriers to Shipping Act enforcement and better allow the FMC to “facilitate prompt and fair dispute resolution,” Dye said July 28.