CHANDLER, Ariz. -- Should the de minimis exemption eventually disappear for low-value shipments, the business-to-business-to-consumer model could rise as a result, according to panelists at the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America annual conference.
China’s State Council this week released a white paper on economic and trade relations with the U.S., criticizing the U.S. government’s imposition of tariffs and export controls and saying that the two sides should strive toward “mutually beneficial cooperation.” The white paper seeks to “clarify the facts about China-US economic and trade relations and illustrate China's policy stance on relevant issues,” it says, according to an unofficial translation.
Singapore-headquartered Maxeon Solar Technologies is considering a challenge to CBP's decision to hold its solar panels for alleged non-compliance with the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, it said in an April 4 news release. The company said that it is "considering exercising its right to contest CBP's decision at the U.S. Court of International Trade to demonstrate that Maxeon's legacy supply chains are fully UFLPA-compliant."
CBP is still holding up DJI's shipments of drones into the U.S., according to an interview with a spokesman for the company recounted in a trade publication about commercial unmanned aerial vehicles.
With the White House announcing this week the end of the de minimis exemption for goods made in China starting next month, the U.S. will need to have the customs and trade infrastructure in place to handle significantly higher volumes of formal and informal entries, said Bernie Hart, vice president of customs for logistics provider Flexport.
CBP has issued a withhold release order against Taepyung Salt Farm amid allegations that the company uses forced labor in its production of sea salt products, the agency said in an April 3 release.
Robust communication with importers’ suppliers, as well as using publicly available alternative data sets, are two ways that companies can ensure UFPLA compliance, especially in an environment of uncertainty about how much the White House will focus on forced labor in the supply chain, according to speakers participating on two webinars hosted by Kharon last week.
House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee ranking member Linda Sánchez, D-Calif., and 13 other Democrats on the committee asked the administration not to cut the Department of Labor's International Labor Affairs Bureau staff and the programs they administer.
Despite the Trump administration's aversion to government, continuing to combat forced labor is in line with its goals of assisting U.S. manufacturing, experts argued during a March 25 event hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Most business interests argued that removing goods subject to Section 301 tariffs is not administrable, would damage the economy, and, if not abandoned, needs a long lead time to prepare for, in comments to CBP.