Point To Point

Please be aware that on August 1, 2019, the Traffic Mitigation Fee (TMF), also known as PierPass, at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will increase by 1.9 percent. The adjustment matches the combined 1.9 percent increase in longshore wage and assessment rates that took effect June 29.

The web portal (Click here to visit) for submitting exclusion requests for the third round (tranche) of China tariffs to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is now open through Sept. 30. Parties must register on the portal before submitting exclusion requests, which can include a range of similar goods for products defined in the request. Challenges to exclusion requests must be posted within 14 days.

As many shippers may have noticed or heard at the end of May, President Trump has announced a plan to implement new tariffs on ALL goods arriving from Mexico beginning as soon as June 10, 2019. The duty rates would start at 5% on June 10 and increase monthly by an additional 5% until they reach 25% or until Mexico does enough to satisfy the President's requests that they do more to stem the flow of illegal immigrants through their country.  

On June 26, 2016, the expanded Panama Canal was opened. At the time, there was fanfare a’plenty, with the Panama Canal Authority’s public relations department declaring that the long-delayed opening “...Ushers in a New Era of Global Trade.” Three years later, it’s time to assess whether or not the expanded canal has lived up to these lofty promises – and just what impact it’s had on shipping in the U.S. 

China has responded to the latest round of 25% tariff increases the United Sates has imposed on their goods as they enter the US.

In response to the U.S. raising our own List 3 tariffs to 25% on $200 billion in goods, China announced on May 13 that it was raising the tariffs $60 billion of US goods covered on 4 lists they had previously identified. The four product lists carry specific duty rates – 25% (List 1), 20% (List 2), 10% (List 3) or 5% (List 4).

In the face of massive uncertainty on the status of the US/China trade negotiations, importers should be aware that the duty rate for List 3 products is planned to increase from 10% to 25%, as early as 12:01 AM Friday (May 10th, 2019). This is noted in the Federal Register (Click here to view).

The office of the United States Trade Representative has released a new and updated listing of products that are now excluded from coverage under Sec. 301 duties implemented last year. These exclusions are retroactive to July 6, 2018 and will be effective until April 18, 2020. A summary of the exclusion list is copied below.  

Updates

Aug. 5: On August 4th, President Trump backed off the threat to shut down points of entry along the U.S. and Mexico border. However, the current situation has not changed the fact that drivers are facing long waits to cross. Some drivers are waiting eight hours or more to get through customs. 

Original Article

Amid growing tensions surrounding the U.S. and Mexico border, shippers need to prepare for expected shipment delays. Following an influx of Central American migrants arriving at the border, the U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP) is shuffling personnel and assets around to manage the situation. As a result, many officers and inspectors that are generally tasked with checking trucks and freight moving back and forth across the border are being temporarily reassigned to work more closely with migrants. 

In late 2018, more than 2,300 shippers participated in our 4th annual State of the North American Supply Chain Survey. The following article examines a portion of the results.