UPS has joined the Blockchain in Trucking Alliance, a forum for development of blockchain technology standards and education for the freight industry, and is exploring applications in its customs brokerage business, UPS announced Nov. 7. The technology would help improve transaction accuracy and by replacing paper-heavy and manual processes, which should help all parties involved in the transactions, UPS said. “Blockchain, a digital database using blocks that are linked and secured by cryptography, can be used to keep record of any information or assets,” the company said. “This includes physical assets, like transportation containers, or virtual assets, like digital currencies.”

UPS is working for the insertion of new NAFTA language providing for trilateral cargo preclearance, streamlined truck transportation between the U.S. and Mexico, and increased customs information submission requirements for Canadian and Mexican state-owned parcel services, UPS Senior Vice President for International Public Affairs and Strategy Amgad Shehata said Oct. 26. During a Cato Institute NAFTA event, Shehata called for a broad move away from paper-based customs procedures, noting that NAFTA parties are all single-window countries equipped for greater customs digitization.

CV International, a Virginia-based freight forwarder and customs broker, “has completed the acquisition” of Waters Shipping Company, it said in a press release. Staff from Waters “will be joining the CVI team in a new CVI branch office in Wilmington, N.C.,” CVI said.

The Cold Finished Steel Bar Institute (CFSBI) on Sept. 13 added its name to the litany of individuals and organizations urging retaliation against dumped steel pursuant to the Trump administration’s ongoing Section 232 “national security” investigation into steel imports. In a letter to President Donald Trump, the organization encouraged “early action” to protect the U.S. steel industry’s ability to supply materials critical to U.S. national defense and infrastructure requirements. “Essentially any product that contains a motor or moving part contains one or more components made from cold finished steel bar,” wrote the organization’s chairman, William Geary. The group’s member companies produce materials vital to a “wide range” of defense applications, including attack helicopters, armored vehicles, guns, smart bombs, aircraft and ammunition, as well as materials for critical infrastructure applications including automobiles, bridge parts, oil and gas equipment, and wind turbines, CFSBI said.

The "strong divisions” on how to approach NAFTA between the deal’s three parties are increasing the possibility that a deal can’t be reached in the near term, and companies should start making contingency plans, said Russ Crawford, partner at KPMG in Canada, in a Sept. 18 press release. Businesses should put together a “Survival Guide” for the next six months to prepare for an “uncertain outcome,” Crawford recommended. Crawford is advising firms to become scenario planners if they are not already, and to develop contingency plans for any business and supply chains, should the U.S. withdraw from the deal, “however unlikely.” He added: “An example may be to have a back-up plan mapped out to the extent possible if there was an X percent increase in tariffs, or a Y percent change in regional (or even country specific) content.”

Amber Road added support for Partner Government Agency filing requirements within its trade management platform, the company said in a Sept. 13 news release. “Many countries are moving to the Single Window concept, which will require both accurate and real-time information to be presented to Customs at time of entry,” said Nathan Pieri, chief product officer for Amber Road. “This places an incredible burden on the importer related to the collection and maintenance of these compliance-related data elements; in fact, one of the PGAs requires over 450 validations. The Amber Road Import solution offers comprehensive master data management support for PGAs and can be implemented with any existing [enterprise resource planning] solution to help a supply chain team deal with the challenges of complying with the ever-changing ACE PGA initiative.”

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce opposes “in the strongest possible terms” any U.S. withdrawal from the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, Chamber CEO Tom Donohue said in a statement. Since KORUS entered into force in 2012, U.S. aerospace exports have doubled to total $8 billion, and agricultural exports have “soared” since double-digit tariffs have started to phase out. This “is why nearly every major U.S. agricultural group strongly supports the agreement,” Donohue said. “Ironically, states across mid-America that voted for the president would take the hit from withdrawal as their agricultural and manufactured goods exports fell in the wake of such a move.”

C.H. Robinson bought a Canadian customs brokerage for about $50 million in cash, the company said in a news release. Milgram, headquartered in Montreal, has about 330 employees, six Canadian offices and one office in the U.S., it said. The sale is effective Sept. 1. Milgram had about $124 million in gross revenue for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2017, C.H. Robinson said. “This acquisition continues our global expansion and marks our third Global Forwarding acquisition in the past five years," C.H. Robinson CEO John Wiehoff said. "We are extremely proud of the progress we have made in bringing these companies into C.H. Robinson, and Milgram provides another unique opportunity to strengthen our global forwarding and customs brokerage offerings in Canada." Milgram's management team will stay on to support the transition, Milgram CEO Jay Goldman said in a note to customers. "While our staff, management, carriers and processes will remain mostly unchanged, we are very excited about the opportunities this presents to our loyal employees, our suppliers and our customers as we look forward to the next chapter in Milgram’s sixty-six year history," Goldman said.

A new study suggests Americans, on average, have a “measured view” of NAFTA, showing that 57 percent of the 2,000 adults surveyed believe withdrawing from the deal would increase everyday goods prices, and that 45 percent of respondents view NAFTA as a contributor to economic growth. The study, ordered by Livingston International and conducted online by Harris Poll, also indicated that 17 percent of respondents believe NAFTA should be left as is to protect key industries, 19 percent believe the U.S. made the right decision to renegotiate the deal because of modernization needs, and that 13 percent of Americans believe the Trump administration is correct in renegotiating the deal because it is unfair to the U.S.

More than 100 trade associations on Aug. 8 urged the Trump administration to work to upgrade NAFTA investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) provisions during upcoming renegotiations. A letter sent to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn says the renegotiations provide an opportunity to enhance U.S. protection and enforcement tools against the “theft, discrimination and unfair treatment of U.S. property overseas.” Foreign investment allows U.S. companies to establish unique distribution networks to deliver products directly, tailor products to local consumers, and earn sales more efficiently, the groups said. With those investments, businesses in the United States also see additional advantages, as exports of U.S. goods are more often included in foreign infrastructure and natural resource development when those projects include American investment, the organizations said. Trade groups that signed the letter include the American Apparel and Footwear Association, the American Petroleum Institute and the Express Association of America.