The Port of Long Beach announced this week that it marked its best November on record. The port moved 783,523 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), which represents a 30.6% increase year-over-year. The story in Long Beach is all about imports, which were up 30.5% to 382,677 TEUs. Exports were down 5.2% to 117,283 TEUs. But the most significant figure is the number of empty containers shipped back to Asia for refilling. This number jumped 55% to 283,563 TEUs.
News / Regulatory Updates
This is a reminder that the FDA renewals for both food facilities and medical devices are due by December 31, 2020. All domestic and foreign food and medical device facilities, along with the companies that source from them, are required to renew their registration this year.
On Wednesday, November 25, 2020, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) office released the hearing schedule for the investigation of Vietnam’s acts, policies, and practices related to the import and use of illegal timber and the valuation of its currency first announced in a press release on October 2.
On Tuesday, November 17, 2020, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) released in Cargo System Messaging Service (CSMS) Message 44890398 updated information regarding the processing of Post Summary Corrections (PSCs). In the notice, CBP notes that they aim to prioritize processing of PSCs filed with accelerated liquidation requests over PSCs submitted without accelerated liquidation requests.
Numerous changes to the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) were made in an October 30 presidential proclamation following the beneficiary developing country assessments, product reviews and eligibility review.
Effective October 1, 2020, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) adjusted certain customs user fees pursuant to the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) for fiscal year 2021 in accordance with the Fixing American’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act) as implemented by CBP regulations.
On Friday, October 2, 2020, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) office announced in a press release that it is “initiating an investigation addressing two significant issues with respect to Vietnam.”
On Thursday, October 1, 2020, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) released CSMS Message 44279197 to inform the trade of the expiration of the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA).
On September 15, 2020, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) office announced in a Statement on Canadian Aluminum that they will “resume duty-free treatment of non-alloyed, unwrought aluminum.” This change will be effective retroactively to September 1, 2020.