Category Archives: Washington Newsline

Froman punts GSP travel goods decision to Trump administration

By | Washington Newsline | No Comments

January 18, 2017

U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman is punting the decision to extend duty-free, quota-free preferences for exports of travel goods to the U.S. for all Generalized System of Preferences beneficiaries to the incoming Trump administration, according to multiple sources.

Sources said that Froman will also issue a non-public recommendation to President-elect Trump’s incoming trade team that it should extend those preferences to all GSP beneficiaries, as opposed to GSP countries that are not members of the African Growth and Opportunity Act and countries that are not considered least-developed countries.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative briefed members of both parties from the House Ways & Means and Senate Finance Committees on Jan. 18, as well as the private sector, regarding the decision. According to an informed source, USTR on the call said the private sector had made “a good case” for why all GSP beneficiaries should receive preferences for travel goods, but regardless, Froman would not recommend to President Obama that he issue a Presidential Proclamation to that effect.

The American Apparel & Footwear Association blasted the decision in a statement. “AAFA has worked on securing duty-free eligibility for travel goods under the Generalized System of Preferences program for all eligible countries for several years, including numerous testimonies and more than a thousand meetings,” the organization said.

“Today’s decision is disappointing, especially considering the Obama Administration agreed with our conclusion that this would be a successful addition to the GSP program that would support U.S. jobs. We look forward to holding discussions with the incoming Administration regarding this issue, as well as pushing for the renewal of the GSP program overall prior to its December 31 expiration.”

One informed source said USTR’s decision not to make public and formal its recommendation to the next administration was “cowardly” because it gives the incoming Trump team “complete discretion” on how to proceed on the issue.

That source said Froman will write a private memo to Trump’s pick for U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, making the case for fully extending the benefits.

The source lamented that because the Obama administration was not putting out anything official, the incoming Trump administration could take a range of actions, including scheduling another hearing and further review or ignoring the issue altogether.

USTR has been repeatedly slammed by U.S. travel goods importers and retailers as well both parties in both committees for its initial decision last June to only extend GSP benefits for travel goods to non-LDC and non-AGOA countries and defer on extending preferences to those two categories.

Proponents of expanding the GSP benefits have argued that the administration’s decision not to do so ignores congressional intent as laid out in the Trade Preferences Extension Act of 2015; fails to provide economic benefits to developing and least-developed beneficiaries of the GSP program; and undermines business certainty, which in turn harms companies in the U.S. and abroad, as well as U.S. consumers.

In response to that backlash, USTR held a hearing in October on the issue and said it would conclude its review of extending travel goods benefits to all GSP members by January 2017. The decision to draft a private memo to the incoming Trump team is the end-result of that review, multiple sources said.

Jack Caporal(jcaporal@iwpnews.com)

 

Adrian Smith’s statement:

 

After several months of review,  I am disappointed to learn USTR will be taking no action on the extension of preference for travel goods to all GSP beneficiaries. This decision harms U.S. businesses and ensures China’s continued dominance of the industry. It is frustrating to see the administration move forward with so many concerning decisions in its waning hours, including opting not to fully implement a policy which it signed into law with strong bipartisan support. It is my belief that the Obama Administration should act immediately to extend preference to all GSP beneficiaries

FASA Takes Action On Notorious Markets

By | Customs & Trade Updates, Gemini News, Washington Newsline | No Comments

FASA Takes Action On Notorious Markets

On October 26, FASA signed on to a letter with 16 international trade associations and one labor group urging the USTR to label Alibaba a “notorious market” as part of an annual review that identifies online and  physical markets that facilitate the sale of counterfeit products. The letter identifies a series of metrics that Alibaba was supposed to have executed, but didn’t undertake, in order to remove counterfeit articles from its site. The USTR is expected to make a decision by mid-December.

FASA/Gemini Urge Full GSP Treatment for Travel Goods

By | Customs & Trade Updates, Washington Newsline | No Comments

FASA/Gemini Shippers Group sent a letter, cosigned by 12 trade groups, on November 1 to the U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman urging the designation of 28 categories of travel goods to be eligible for duty free access to the United States from all Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) eligible countries. The letter was sent as part of a process the Administration reopened (following pressure from FASA/Gemini Shippers) to review whether more advanced developing countries should be able to export travel goods to the United States duty free. The Obama Administration had issued a proclamation in late June that provided this treatment for travel goods that are imported from countries in Africa or a handful of least developed developing countries. The early decision precludes countries like Thailand, the Philippines, and India from exporting travel goods duty free to the United States. FASA/Gemini has participated actively on this throughout the year, providing testimony and signing on to letters in August and March.

US Customs Trade Symposium Registration Open

By | Customs & Trade Updates, Washington Newsline | No Comments

CSMS# 16-000876 – The 2016 East Coast Trade Symposium Registration is OPEN!

 

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is proud to announce that the 2016 East Coast Trade Symposium (ECTS) will be held on December 1-2, at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City in, Arlington, Virginia. This year’s theme is “Trade’s Impact on American Health, Safety, and Economic Prosperity.”

For more information about the 2016 ECTS and how to register for this event, please click on or copy and paste the following URL to your internet browser: https://www.cbp.gov/trade/stakeholder-engagement/trade-symposium

FDA OFFICES CLOSED DUE TO HURRICANE MATTHEW

By | Industry News, Washington Newsline | No Comments

CSMS# 16-000872 – FDA OFFICES CLOSED DUE TO HURRICANE MATTHEW

10/05/2016 03:39 PM EDT

 

Automated Broker Interface

TO: ALL FILERS
FROM: FOOD & DRUG ADMINISTRATION
SUBJECT: FDA OFFICES CLOSED DUE TO HURRICANE MATTHEW

FDA import offices in the following cities will be closed Thursday, October 6 and Friday, October 7, 2016 due to potential impact from Hurricane Matthew:

Florida: Miami, Port Everglades, Boca Raton, Maitland, and Jacksonville.

Georgia: Savannah

South Carolina: Charleston

FDA review of entries in affected ports will be limited; review of perishable entries will be prioritized during this time.

Staff may not be available by phone and e-mail may be disrupted due to anticipated service and power outages. If conditions warrant and there are no safety concerns, staff will report for duty on Tuesday, October 11, 2016.

LAST DAY REMINDER: 2016 ACE Trade User Satisfaction Survey

By | Washington Newsline | No Comments

 

CSMS# 16-000827 – LAST DAY REMINDER: 2016 ACE Trade User Satisfaction Survey

 

Ocean Manifest

The 2016 ACE Trade User Satisfaction Survey is now available for trade response. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) strongly encourages all Importers, Exporters, Brokers, Software Developers, Carriers, and other trade community users of the ACE System to take this 5 -10 minute survey as soon as possible. Your input will allow CBP to formally gauge areas where ACE is doing well and where improvement is needed. A large response will ensure that there is greater statistical validity to the results. This survey will close at midnight on September 19th.

To access the survey, please click on the following link: http://www.surveyshare.com/s/AYA4F2D

US CBP Updated Guidance on Vessel Diversions for Hanjin Shipping Lines Cargo

By | Gemini News, Industry News, Public News, Washington Newsline | No Comments

Members,

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued the following guidance on Vessel Diversions for Hanjin Shipping Lines Cargo

 

CSMS #16-000814

Title: Updated Guidance on Vessel Diversions for Hanjin Shipping Lines Cargo
Date: 9/13/2016 2:33:11 PM
To: Automated Broker Interface, ACE Portal Accounts, New ACE Programming, Ocean Manifest, Partner Government Agencies, Trade Policy Updates

In anticipation of possible disruptions due to Hanjin Shipping vessels or cargo arriving to U.S. ports, CBP is providing the attached and updated processing scenarios to help trade and CBP identify procedures to follow to prevent disruptions.

Link to file:

Hanjin_Scenarios_updated_09082016

US CBP Offers Guidance of Possible Scenarios for Customs Entry for Hanjin Containers

By | Customs & Trade Updates, Gemini News, Industry News, Washington Newsline | No Comments

US Customs published the following update today in response to queries from importers on how to deal with containers arriving on Hanjin Ships and Bill of Ladings

 

Scenario 1:

Vessel Diverted to Foreign Port and Discharged: A Hanjin vessel does not arrive
in the intended U.S. port and diverts to a foreign port to discharge freight.
• The manifest and Importer Security Filing (ISF) must be deleted.
• All bills of lading need to be deleted (not cancelled)
• Entries and entry summaries need to be cancelled.
• For cargo subsequently entering the U.S. through land border or other means, a new entry
should be filed at the appropriate port of entry.
• For shipments subject to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requirements, filers must
request deletion and a new Bio-Terrorism Act (STA) prior notice submission should be
transmitted along with the new entry if the cargo subsequently enters the U.S.
Scenario 1a:

Hanjin Vessel Diverted to Foreign Port Not Discharged: A vessel diverted
to a foreign port of entry is not discharged but cargo is transferred to an alternative
conveyance (i.e. barge) for arrival and discharge at the original intended U.S. port of entry.
• This should be used only in limited situations.
• No change is needed to the manifest, bill of lading, ISF, or pre-filed entries.
• A new FDA prior notice is not required.
• The arrival date will reflect the date the conveyance arrives at the intended U.S. port to be
offloaded.
Scenario 2:

Hanjin Vessel Diverted to Another U.S. Port and Discharged: This includes any
scenario where shipments manifested for one U.S. port are discharged in a port other than the
manifested port.
• Manifest and bill information should be updated to reflect the port code where the freight
will actually be discharged.
• No change is needed to the ISF. However, ISF filers should monitor the ISF disposition
codes to ensure that any changes to the manifest and bill information did not cause the
original bill match to drop.
• Change pre-filed entries to reflect the actual port code of discharge. The filer may opt for
any of the following:
• Using ACE Cargo Release corrections capability, to change pre-filed entries to
reflect the actual port code of discharge. As long as the shipment is not held or
arrived/released, this process should be fully automated with minimal CBP
intervention.
• Initiate an electronic in-bond movement or use a 7512 to allow for inter-modal
transport of the goods to the original intended U.S. port for processing by
CBP.
• Entries may be cancelled and refiled for the new port of entry.
• A new FDA prior notice is not required; filers can retransmit a corrected/updated prior
notice.
In all cases under this scenario, manifest and bill information should be updated, but no
change is needed to the ISF. Please note that without updating the bills of lading, the
shipments cannot be arrived at the first port of arrival which will prevent entries from
releasing. Changes in entry process with ACE Cargo Release has linked the entry release
to the manifest arrival to increase the number of fully paperless transactions. Without
this, paper entries and other documents will be needed for shipments not requiring
examination or further processing with ACE. In addition, since shipments being held for
examination or document review will need to be amended in any scenario, this process
provides a standard process with most compliant transactions requiring minimal CBP
intervention.
Scenario 2a:

Hanjin Vessel Diverted to Another U.S. Port Not Discharged: When a vessel
is diverted to another U.S. port of entry but not discharged, no change is needed to the bill of
lading or entries. The arrival date for the vessel will reflect the date the ship returns to the
intended U.S. port to be offloaded.

Scenario 3:

Hanjin Vessel Rests at Anchor and Not Diverted: A vessel arrives in port
but due to work stoppage rests at anchor until freight can be discharged.
 The carrier must continue to provide advance notification to local CBP ports of their
pending arrival (CBP Form 3171).
 When a vessel arrives at a U.S. port (within CBP territory) and comes to rest whether
at anchor, dock, or harbor, carriers must notify local CBP vessel processing
personnel.
 After initial arrival, a change to the vessel’s arrival status should be considered
(vessel unarrived) to avoid automated cargo release and general order issues.
 The carrier and vessel agents should maintain close communication with local CBP
port vessel processing office to share information, updates, instructions, and portspecific
guidance.
 CBP will work with the carrier on a case-by-case basis so the actual arrival date and
time at the first U.S. port closely reflects the actual date/time the vessel begins to
unlade the cargo.
 CBP will also take into consideration situations where cargo has been unladen but
due to work stoppage cannot be moved from the dock.
Scenario 4:

In-bond (IT and T&E) cargo already in the U.S. moving under Hanjin’s bond
to U.S. port for entry or export.
This cargo must be arrived to process the entry and allow release. Customs brokers and others
using ABI functions QP/WP can arrive and/or export any in-bond at destination. As an
alternative, the in-bond document (or information as appropriate) can be delivered to CBP and
in-bond destination in order to be manually arrived/exported.