International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
SAN DIEGO -- Customs brokers shouldn’t be dismissive or fearful of artificial intelligence tools because those tools' ability to analyze massive amounts of trade data enables brokers to focus on other aspects of the business, speakers on a panel said at the Pacific Coast Council’s Western Cargo Conference (WESCCON) last week.
In September, CBP flagged 425 shipments, valued at more than $65 million, for suspected use of forced labor, the agency said in a monthly update this week. This represents an increase, in terms of total value, from August, when CBP stopped 400 shipments valued at more than $53 million for the same reason (see 2409170009).
CBP will bolster a number of existing initiatives in the coming months aimed at preventing the import of products made with forced labor, said Katie Woodson, assistant director within the operations and forced labor divisions of CBP's Office of Trade, during a panel on forced labor at last week's Western Cargo Conference.
Because China makes 90% of anode and cathode materials, and dominates processing of critical minerals, no matter where they are mined, recent hikes in tariffs on Chinese minerals will do little, trade experts agreed.
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
Decoupling between the U.S. and China in the most technologically advanced products is real, economists said at an Oct. 21 Peterson Institute for International Economics event, but trade overall between the two countries continues to grow, if more slowly than trade with other partners.
Canada is studying several policy and legislative options to strengthen its forced labor enforcement, including one that could establish new import traceability requirements for certain goods and another that could require importers to pay all fees associated with imports detained for forced labor.
Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., the lead sponsor of a bill to impose a 30% tariffs on Chinese drones, with a 5% escalation annually, as well as a bill banning Da-Jiang Innovations-made drones on U.S. communications infrastructure, reacted to the news that CBP is detaining DJI drones under suspicion they are made with Uyghur forced labor.
Chinese drone supplier DJI said CBP is holding up shipments of select drones. In a blog post Oct. 17, the company said CBP cited the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) as the reason for the holdups. DJI denied that any of its goods were produced with forced labor, saying, “this assertion made against [us] ... is entirely unfounded and categorically false.” The company said it's working with CBP to provide the necessary documentation, “demonstrating [its] compliance with the UFLPA.” CBP declined to comment.