Americans for Free Trade, a coalition of more than 150 trade associations, sent a letter to the White House Feb. 27 offering praise for the pause in escalations of tariffs on Chinese goods and asking that an agreement be reached that takes all tariffs away. "It is our hope that this momentum will build in the weeks ahead and lead to a final deal that addresses structural issues in China, removes tariffs on both sides, and eliminates trade uncertainty facing American businesses and farmers," they wrote. "Our coalition represents every part of the U.S. economy, including manufacturers, farmers and agribusinesses, retailers, technology companies, service suppliers, natural gas and oil companies, importers, exporters, and other supply chain stakeholders. Collectively, we support tens of millions of American jobs through our vast supply chains." Customs brokers and apparel, travel goods, furniture and jewelry importers were among those who signed the letter.

NSF Certification is now accredited by the American National Standards Institute to certify compliance with Food and Drug Administration food safety requirements, parent company NSF International said in a news release. The certification is required "for products imported under the FDA Voluntary Qualified Importer Program (VQIP), which is used to provide expedited entry" and is also "accepted by the FDA as an option for supplier verification to satisfy the [Food Safety Modernization Act] Supply-Chain Program and Foreign Supplier Verification Program (FSVP) requirements," the company said. Carey Allen, associate managing director of supply chain food safety operations at NSF International, said NSF "engages with suppliers and their customers to reduce the overall audit burden and incorporate specific customer requirements into third-party certification visits.”

Importers welcomed the news that tariffs on the largest tranche of Chinese products will not rise to 25 percent in five days (see 1902240001). “We welcome the Trump administration not raising tariffs to 25 percent,” Consumer Technology Association President Gary Shapiro said. Tariffs “are costing the tech industry an additional $1 billion per month, and the cost of 5G products and parts from China have skyrocketed,” he said. “We urge both sides to move forward to a permanent resolution that will address trade issues with China, while also protecting American leadership in innovation.”

Flexport received a $1 billion investment led by the Softbank Vision Fund, the company announced in a Feb. 21 new release. "In 2018, Flexport doubled top-line revenue to nearly $500M, increased headcount to nearly 1,000 employees, expanded our geographic footprint to 11 offices and warehouses around the world, and in September achieved the ranking of 11th largest freight forwarder by ocean volume on the world’s largest shipping lane, the Transpacific Eastbound," Flexport CEO Ryan Petersen said. Other investors include Founders Fund, DST Global, Cherubic Ventures, Susa Ventures and SF Express, Petersen said. Among future initiatives is an "Operating System for Global Trade," which is "a strategic operating model for global freight forwarding that combines technology and analytics, logistics infrastructure, and hands-on supply chain expertise." Peterson said that "by bringing together everyone -- importers, exporters, ocean carriers, airlines, warehouses, trucking companies, and customs brokerages -- on one platform to structure all the data required to conduct global trade, Flexport and the OS for Global Trade give businesses what they’ve never had before with their freight forwarders: deep visibility and control from origin to destination, fast and reliable transit times, and low and predictable supply chain costs." Flexport, which is primarily a freight forwarder, provides customs brokerage services through its subsidiary Flexport Customs.

Platinum Equity agreed to acquire Livingston International for an undisclosed amount, the companies said in a Feb. 21 news release. Livingston, which is based in Toronto, Canada, "holds the distinction of being Canada’s largest customs broker and third-largest entry filer in the United States," the companies said. “With Platinum’s support, we will continue to execute on our customer-centric growth strategy, which focuses on offering best-in-class customs brokerage, trade compliance and logistics services to more than 30,000 businesses in the U.S., Canada and around the world,” Livingston CEO Dan McHugh said.

When President Donald Trump decided to renegotiate NAFTA, "the threat of this agreement unraveling forced the business community to up its game," said Pete Sheffield, a lobbyist for Enfield, an oil and gas pipeline operator. David Woodruff, who represents CN, a Canadian-U.S. railway company, said that CN representatives met with more than 130 members, as they realized they " needed to be on the offense."

Trade is critical to manufacturing's success, because only 5 percent of the world population is in the United States, the head of the largest industrial trade group said Feb. 20. "If our economy is going to succeed, if we’re going to stay on top, we need to sell the things Americans make to those people [around the world] -- before someone else does," National Association of Manufacturers CEO Jay Timmons said in Houston on a speaking tour promoting manufacturing careers. "Being part of a strong world economy raises standards of living here at home and reduces poverty around the globe." He said manufacturers are counting on Congress to ratify the new NAFTA, known as the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, quickly, because Canada and Mexico are America's most important trading partners. And, he added, "we want to see the administration come to an agreement to hold China accountable. China cheats -- plain and simple. And it hurts us here in America. And the tariffs on their products and on ours? Well, they hurt manufacturers, too. China is the most challenging market in the world -- but it also has big opportunities. So, a trade agreement between the two countries would not only fix those problems and set new rules -- it would be historic."

The signals that tariffs will not go up on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports on March 2 is a small relief for businesses, according to Venable partner Lindsay Meyer, but they're still challenged by the difficulty "of forecasting what the second half of this year will present." Some importers that work with Venable are getting their suppliers to shoulder some of the additional tariff costs; others are declining to enter two-year contracts unless there's the ability to reopen the deals if tariffs increase. "The companies, they’re making their plans cautiously," she said. "I think the anxiety level isn’t at a level 10 that it was, but it certainly hasn’t dropped down below 5."

Bank of America Merrill Lynch research analysts take a "benign view" of the likelihood of new Section 232 tariffs on the auto sector and an increase to the Section 301 tariffs on goods from China, they said in a Feb. 15 report. Aditya Bhave and Ethan Harris, both global economists at the bank, said that while the Commerce Department seems likely to conclude that auto imports are a national security threat, "sustained auto tariffs" are not expected. "Reasons include delays in the release of the report, the extent of lobbying pressure against the tariffs, and the Trump administration’s hesitance to slap tariffs on consumer products, of which autos are among the most visible," the economists said.

Maersk has agreed to acquire the New Jersey-based customs brokerage Vandegrift, it said in a press release. The deal, which closed on Feb. 8, nets Maersk a nearly 70-year-old operation with 170 employees based in 12 offices. “Adding Vandegrift’s depth to our value proposition creates a game changer for our North America customers,” said Jeff Hammond, Maersk’s global head-customs brokerage. “Now we can offer significantly more Customs Broker expertise, capacity and wider scope of solutions to help our customers succeed,” he said. Maersk’s release says the price and terms of the deal were not disclosed.