The West Coast MTO Agreement (WCMTOA) announced on November 10, 2021, the Traffic Mitigation Fee (TMF) at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will be temporarily increased from December 1, 2021, through January 31, 2022, subject to regulatory clearance by the Federal Maritime Commission.
News / Regulatory Updates
On Sunday, October 31, 2021, the United Sates and the European Union announced in a Joint Statement on Trade in Steel and Aluminum that the U.S. would remove the section 232 tariffs and the E.U. would suspend related tariffs on U.S. products. In addition to the removal of tariffs both will also suspend their related World Trade Organization disputes.
In reaction to the ongoing historic container port congestion, the Biden Administration announced on October 25th that effective November 1, 2021, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will begin charging an “emergency fee” on all long dwelling cargo.
The USTR has announced that it is inviting public comments on whether to reinstate any of the 549 China Section 301 product exclusions that had previously been extended but are now expired. This represents only a small portion of the original 2,200 total product exclusions previously approved by the USTR which were allowed to expire without extension.
On Friday, October 1, 2021, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) office announced an agreement to resolve the Timber Section 301 Investigation. The agreement secures commitments that will help keep illegally harvested or traded timber out of the supply chain and protect the environment and natural resources.
Effective October 1, 2021, Egypt has implemented a new Advance Cargo Information Declaration (ACID). Shipments departing origin after October 1, 2021, without an ACID number will be rejected and returned to origin.
On Friday August 20, 2021, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) sent out Cargo Systems Messaging Service CSMS #49132200 which provided guidance to importers and brokers regarding Harmonized Tariff System (HTS) subheading 9801.00.10 for U.S. and Foreign Goods Returned.
Effective October 1, 2021, U.S. Customs and Border Protection will proceed in adjusting certain customs user fees pursuant to the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) for Fiscal Year 2022 in Accordance with the Fixing American’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act) as implemented by CBP regulations.
On July 26, the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) on behalf of the Customs and Immigration Union (CIU) announced that the Border Services Officers (FB) have voted to strike starting August 6, 2021. This group includes the Canadian Border Service Agency (CBSA) Officers and is the result of an impasse in negotiations between their union and the Canadian Government. Immediately following the announcement of strike the two sides did agree to restart negotiations.
On Tuesday, July 13, 2021, a 36 page Joint Xinjiang Supply Chain Advisory was published by the Department of State, Department of Treasury, Department of Commerce, Department of Homeland Security, United States Trade Representatives and the Department of Labor.