International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from Sept. 7-10 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
Tim Warren
Timothy Warren, Executive Managing Editor, Communications Daily. He previously led the International Trade Today editorial team from the time it was purchased by Warren Communications News in 2012 through the launch of Export Compliance Daily and Trade Law Daily. Tim is a 2005 graduate of the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts and lives in Maryland with his wife and three kids.
The CBP modification of its forced labor finding on Top Glove imports from Malaysia followed several actions by the company to remedy forced labor indicators, the agency said Sept. 10. “CBP modified a Finding after thoroughly reviewing evidence that Top Glove has addressed all indicators of forced labor identified at its Malaysian facilities,” CBP Acting Commissioner Troy Miller said. “Top Glove’s actions in response to the Withhold Release Order, which include issuing more than $30 million in remediation payments to workers and improving labor and living conditions at the company’s facilities, suggest that CBP’s enforcement efforts provide a strong economic incentive for entities to eliminate forced labor from their supply chains.”
CBP cut back its planned continuing education requirements to 36 hours every three years after previously suggesting 40 hours over the same period (see 2010270038), it said in notice. "Requiring more than 36 hours of continuing broker education per triennial period could be burdensome for the customs broker community (especially individual brokers operating as or working for small businesses) and a lower requirement would be insufficient to ensure that individual brokers keep abreast of changes in customs and related laws," it said. An agency official said in May that the change was likely (see 2105040004).
The American Association of Exporters and Importers, IBM and U.S. subsidiaries of the Foxconn Technology Group all disagree with CBP's proposed use of Part 102 rules of origin in non-preferential claims and procurement under USMCA (see 2107010045), they said in the comments recently posted in the docket for the proposal. Meanwhile, lithium-ion battery producer, Inventus Power, and the American Iron and Steel Institute voiced support for the changes in their comments. So far, the comments show a deep split between industries in support (see 2107270049) and against (see 2109010006) the proposal.
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from Aug. 30 - Sept. 3 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The Commerce Department will need to weigh in on how it plans to approach goods that were delayed by Hurricane Ida and have Section 232 tariff date sensitivities, a CBP official said Sept. 2 during a call with software developers. Asked about goods subject to a "232 quota exclusion due to expire in very the near future," the official said CBP has been in contact with the Department of Commerce, which will need to give input on any issues involving quota and the exemptions. Once that "absolute quota is filled, then it's filled" and "the importer will have to warehouse that merchandise if they're not able to use that quota exclusion before the quota exclusion expires."
CBP should take a different approach than the one it proposed for the rules of origin used on non-preferential claims and procurement under USMCA (see 2107010045), the Business Alliance for Customs Modernization said in comments to the agency. “BACM requests that CBP withdraw this [notice of proposed rulemaking] and engage the trade community in a dialogue about the type of rule of origin the United States should use for non-preferential purposes -- an objective test or a subjective test -- and then issue a new NPRM based on that input,” it said. BACM, which is made up of “large U.S.-based multinationals,” is the latest to come out against the proposal (see 2108120033 and 2108090027).
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from Aug. 23-27 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
CBP detained a total of 967 shipments between Oct. 1, 2020, and Aug. 6, 2021, due to the possible use of forced labor on the goods, the agency said in recently updated trade statistics. That marks an increase of 331 stopped shipments from the previous release of statistics, when CBP said it had detained 636 shipments between Oct. 1, 2020, and June 15, 2021 (see 2106280019). The total value of the detained shipments for this fiscal year so far is about $368 million, it said.
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from Aug. 16-20 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.