Conductors, train persons, and rail yard workers with Canadian National Railway (CN Rail) began striking today after failing to reach a compromise with management. Workers have not had a contract since late July and have concerns about wages, long hours, benefits, and working conditions. Federal mediators are joining CN Rail and the Teamsters Canada Rail…
Trade Alerts
Lufthansa Two-Day Strike Impacting Air Cargo
Today kicked off a two-day strike by Lufthansa cabin crew. Although freighters with Lufthansa Cargo will fly according to schedule, many passenger flights carrying cargo on Lufthansa will be grounded. The airline has canceled 1,300 flights, including 700 leaving Germany on November 7th and 600 leaving on November 8th. As a result of these cancellations,…
CN Rail Voted in Favor of a Strike; Could Happen by November 19th
The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) has announced that 3,000 members, employed by Canadian National Railway (CN Rail), have voted in favor of a strike. They may strike as soon as November 19th at 12:01 AM following 72 hours of notice. The employees have been negotiating for six months and have been without a contract…
Section 301 List 4A Portal to Open; More Exclusions Granted for List 3
On October 31, 2019, the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) will open an online portal for submitting exclusion requests regarding List 4A of the Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods. The USTR provided specific procedures for requesting exclusions. After registering on the portal, submitters will need to provide specific data points to support…
FMC Seeks Comments on Demurrage and Detention Proposed Rule
The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) seeks comments on a proposed interpretive rule that provides guidance regarding how the FMC determines the “reasonableness of demurrage and detention practices and regulations under the Shipping Act.” Under the rule, the FMC proposes to consult a non-exclusive list of factors when evaluating claims and complaints. The rule follows an…
Section 301 Tariff Hike Canceled; Filing Guidance Provided for Exclusions
On Friday, President Trump called off Section 301 tariff increases on Chinese goods that were to be implemented on Tuesday, October 15th. The planned tariff hike, from 25% to 30%, was on lists 1, 2, and 3. The announcement came after Chinese and American negotiators made progress on sticking points regarding intellectual property rights, financial…
Highlights of the U.S.-Japan Trade Agreement
On October 7th, the U.S. and Japan signed a limited, bilateral trade deal called the United States-Japan Trade Agreement. The deal seeks to eliminate or reduce tariffs on certain agricultural and industrial products traded between the two countries. While the effective date is January 1st, many of the tariff lines are being reduced or eliminated…
USTR Issues More Section 301 Exclusions, Announces Filing & Refund Procedures
On October 2nd, the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) published two more sets of product exclusions from the Chinese goods subject to Section 301 tariffs. Representing HTS numbers from both tranche one and two, the exclusions are retroactive to July 6, 2018, for those on the first list and August 23, 2018, for…
FDA Publishes List of Records Required Under FSVP
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has provided resources for importers to solidify their compliance standing within the requirements of the Foreign Supplier Verification Program (FSVP) final rule, including a list of records required under the regulation. The rule requires importers to “develop, implement, and maintain” an FSVP, which includes “verification activities and records”…
US Plans Section 301 Tariffs on European Goods; EU May Retaliate
The World Trade Organization (WTO) has authorized the US to implement Section 301 tariffs on European goods in response to subsidies provided to Airbus. The US has announced a planned effective date of October 18, 2019. The proposed list of goods is divided into 15 sections by country and product; it contains 150 tariff lines…
