On Tuesday, July 6, 2021, the Court of International Trade (CIT) delivered a small “win” for the plaintiff importers in the Section 301 China list 3 and 4A case before the court. In the fifty (50) page two-to-one split decision ruling, CIT granted a preliminary injunction to suspend the liquidation of unliquidated import entries subject to Lists 3 and 4A duties subject to the Section 301 litigation.
News / Regulatory Updates
Following nearly two years of increased duties/tariffs related to many retaliatory programs, aimed at unfair trade practices, as well as escalating costs via air, ocean rail and truck many importers are seeing an ever-increasing hit to their cash reserves. The volume and timing of cash outlays outpaces their cash inflows from their clients paying on terms. Managing cash flow is often the first area of focus each day for importers.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is reminding all Importers, Exporters, Carriers, and Freight Forwarders that the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) security requirements take effect for 100% of all international all-cargo flights by June 30, 2021.
The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) Assessment and Revenue Management (CARM) project will directly impact, modernize, and streamline the import process of shipments entering Canada by transforming the collection of duties and taxes for commercial goods.
A number of COVID-19 cases had emerged at the port last week, and tightened health and safety measures have been rolled out by local authorities. This advisory includes the latest updates, as well as contingency plans from our carrier partners.
Transpacific Market U.S. Imports from Asia in April increased by 29.3% on a year over year basis to 1.55 million TEU, according to IHS Market. While this does represent a 6.6% month over month decrease in volume, the decline should not be attributed to a softening in demand but rather due to continued capacity disruptions caused by heavy congestion across the entire Transpacific network.
The situation in the Suez Canal has now been resolved, with the backlog having cleared and all vessels proceeding to their destinations. The impact on Noatum North America and its customers was thankfully minimal.
On April 5, 2021, the U.S. Court of International Trade issued an opinion against the Section 232 derivative product tariffs implemented on Proclamation 9980 which applied a 25% tariff on steel derivative products and a 10% tariff on aluminum derivative products.
On Friday, March 26, 2021, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) office announced in a press release the Next Steps of Section 301 Digital Service Tax (DST) Investigations for Austria, India, Italy, Spain, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.
On Monday, March 29, 2021, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai announced that the USTR would Suspend Trade Engagement with Burma following Military Coup and Violence against Civilians. In the message, the USTR said the suspension of all U.S. engagement with Burma under the 2013 Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) will remain in effect until a return of a democratically elected government.