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.
The Justice Department and Federal Maritime Commission signed the first-ever memorandum of understanding between the two agencies to foster better cooperation on enforcement and oversight of competition issues in the ocean shipping industry, the agencies said July 12. The MOU creates a “framework” for the two agencies to discuss “enforcement and regulatory matters” involving unreasonable carrier practices, an increase in large carrier alliances and other practices that are hurting U.S. importers and exporters (see 2102170060). Under the MOU, which was encouraged by President Joe Biden’s executive order last week (see 2107090056), officials from the FMC and the Justice Department’s antitrust division will “confer” at least once annually, according to the MOU.
Former U.S. trade officials are optimistic the Biden administration can revitalize a mini trade deal with India that was originally proposed under the Trump administration (see 2009010049). But they also said U.S. officials will likely look to add more provisions to any deal, including ones that address labor and climate issues.
The Commerce Department has reduced its backlog of Section 232 aluminum and steel exclusion requests and is granting decisions more quickly, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said May 6. She said the agency averages about 50 days to grant an exclusion from the date it receives the request.
Shipping regulations should be revised to allow the Federal Maritime Commission to better address unfair detention and demurrage fees, agricultural export issues and a range of other shipping problems at U.S. ports, FMC Chair Daniel Maffei said. While he didn’t propose any concrete changes, he said he is “frustrated” with the situation at the nation’s ports and is speaking with Congress about potentially proposing regulatory changes. “I'm not prepared to go into any details now, but I do think that some things clearly need to be clarified,” Maffei said during a May 5 National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America conference. “There are many, many areas where the law is vague or so outdated because it simply was written mostly in the time of tariffs, and now it's mostly contracts.”
Commerce Department Secretary Gina Raimondo said it’s “fair” to expect changes to U.S. tariffs against China, but the administration hasn’t yet made a final decision. Raimondo, speaking during a meeting of Commerce’s Advisory Committee on Supply Chain Competitiveness, said the administration is still undergoing its review of China policies and decisions will be made along with other agencies, including the State Department.