Trade Alerts

Illegal blockades along various points of CN Rail’s network continue to hamper the flow of CN Rail freight across Canada and into the US. The blockades, which are protesting a proposed pipeline, are having a far-reaching impact on the movement of freight: Blockades east of Belleville and in Tyendinaga, ON, have shutdown CN Rail’s network…

The US Trade Representative (USTR) has published a new set of Section 301 tranche one exclusions, which will exempt certain imported Chinese goods from the additional tariffs. The exclusions will be retroactive to July 6, 2018, the effective date of the $34 billion action, and they will extend until October 2, 2020. The excluded goods…

CN Rail has announced they will shut down some sections of its rail network due to rail line blockades in British Columbia and Ontario. Since last Thursday, freight and passenger rail traffic between Western and Eastern Canada and Eastern Canada and the US Mid-West have been affected by the blockades, which are protest actions in…

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has increased the frequency of inspections on US food buyers. In particular, there recently have been more warnings regarding non-compliance with the foreign supplier verification program (FSVP) requirements. US buyers of food products, meant for human or animal consumption and including vitamins and supplements, are required to have…

On January 31, 2019, the US Trade Representative published the eighth round of product exclusions from Section 301 list 3. In this round, the Chinese-origin goods excluded from the 25 percent duties include “2 10-digit HTSUS subheadings, which cover 52 requests, and 117 specially prepared product descriptions, which cover 156 separate exclusion requests.” The product…

The spreading coronavirus situation is evolving very quickly, and the sickness carries with it challenges and disruptions to supply chains in China. Authorities in China imposed travel restrictions in Wuhan and ten other cities prior to Chinese New Year, which began on January 25, 2020. The Chinese government has extended the traditionally week-long national holiday…

Effective February 8, 2020, an expanded list of imported steel and aluminum products will be subject to Section 232 duties. As found in Annex I Derivatives of Aluminum Products, an additional duty of 10 percent will apply to $20 million of imported aluminum products, such as stranded wire, cable, plaited bands, and aluminum bumpers for…

The trade community has seen an increase in U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s enforcement of Department of Agriculture regulations on the treatment and marking of wood packaging materials.  A.N. Deringer encourages their customers to review the Wood and Wood Products section of the Miscellaneous and Processed Product Manual (MPPM) published by the USDA Animal and…

On Friday, January 24, 2020, President Trump issued a proclamation expanding Section 232 duties on aluminum and steel to include “derivative” aluminum and steel articles. The addition of the 10% Section 232 duties on aluminum and 25% Section 232 duties on steel will apply to certain “downstream” manufactured articles. These items are described in Annex…

The US and China signed the Phase One trade deal on January 15th. The deal will reduce some Section 301 duties on Chinese imports, and China will reciprocate with increased imports of American goods. Section 301 duties on 3,800 8-digit tariff lines (from the $300 billion [List 4a] trade action) will decrease from 15% to…