CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
A California customs broker pleaded guilty Feb. 7 to defrauding importers out of more than $5 million and committing over $1 million in tax evasion, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California announced. The broker, Frank Seung Noah, copped to two counts of wire fraud, for which he faces up to 20 years in prison each, and one count of tax evasion, for which he faces five years in prison.
CBP has created Harmonized Systems Updates 2505 and 2506. HSU 2505, created on Feb. 3, contains 84 Automated Broker Interface (ABI) records and 32 Harmonized Tariff Schedule records. It also includes the China/Hong Kong HTS updates.
The reversal of an order banning Chinese products from de minimis startled importers and members of the Senate Finance Committee, who were puzzling about how long it would be until the policy flipped again, and why the Commerce Department, which has never had involvement in de minimis before, has been put in charge of deciding when to implement the order.
The abrupt change in how CBP will process low-value goods made in China because of President Donald Trump's executive order banning the de minimis exemption for these goods (see 2502030034) is causing some upheaval among shippers unfamiliar with the other types of customs processing, importers, brokers and logistics providers told International Trade Today.
Canadian express courier Purolator has agreed to buy Livingston International, Purolator said in a Feb. 4 news release. The customs broker and freight forwarder “will now become a wholly owned subsidiary of Purolator led by its existing leadership team managing its day-to-day operations,” the release said. Purolator is itself majority owned by Canada Post, the primary postal operator in Canada. The terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.
Expect upheaval as companies that previously imported goods from China under the de minimis exemption face President Donald Trump's ban via executive order on using de minimis for those goods, members of the trade community told International Trade Today.
After pulling back for the moment on threatened 25% tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports, China is the only country facing imminent tariffs over fentanyl smuggling. The 10% tariffs will be added to most favored nation duties or, for goods subject to Section 301 duties of either 25% or 7.5%, to those duties and the underlying MFN rates.
Countries where the U.S. has a significant trade deficit could be potential targets for future U.S. tariffs, according to panelists speaking during a Jan. 29 customs market update sponsored by Expeditors.
President Donald Trump told reporters that there are no concessions Mexico, Canada or China could make to avoid tariffs on Feb. 1, which he wants to use to punish them for trade deficits, fentanyl trafficking, and, in the case of Canada and Mexico, migration across their borders.