Deringer Trade Alerts

• Restrictions on Import Rail Traffic into the U.S.
  July 21, 2021
  The international intermodal supply chain is experiencing significant impacts due to the record high volume of imports into the U.S.  As a result, MSC rail vendor (BNSF) is restricting import rail traffic from the U.S. West Coast ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.  This will impact the delivery of ...
• West Coast Rail Services into Chicago Being Suspended
  July 20, 2021
  The Union Pacific Railroad (UP) announced a seven-day pause beginning on July 19th for Eastbound traffic from the U.S. West Coast terminals (Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oakland, Tacoma) to the Global IV terminal in Joliet, IL.  The UP is using this time to reduce the rail backlog en route and ...
• Southeast Asia Suffering from New COVID Restrictions
  July 20, 2021
  New COVID restrictions are disrupting manufacturing and logistics throughout Southeast Asia.  Malaysia is experiencing the highest number of cases, rising to over 10,000, and lockdowns remain throughout the country.  This is affecting traffic out of Selangor/Kuala Lumpur/Port Klang.  The majority of employees are working from home in all sectors, so ...
• APHIS Delays Implementation of Phase VI Lacey Act Reporting Requirements
  July 13, 2021
  On March 31, 2020, the Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced Phase Six of the Lacey Act enforcement schedule would begin on October 1, 2020. This date was later changed to July 1, 2021, after public comment. On July 2, 2021, APHIS published additional information ...
• BC Wildfires Cause Disruption in Canada’s Freight Supply Chain
  July 9, 2021
  Recent wildfires in British Columbia damaged tracks and caused train shipments to stop, creating a bottleneck of exports and delaying imports.  The tracks affected are operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. (CPR) and Canadian National Railway Co. (CNR), two companies that account for the bulk of train transportation in Vancouver. CPR ...
• BNSF Railway Company Taking Necessary Steps to Increase Capacity
  July 2, 2021
  BNSF has announced storage policy and flip changes at Logistics Park Chicago (LPC) and the Los Angeles intermodal facilities in response to the historically strong intermodal demand. The following changes are being implemented to address the current challenges and become effective Monday, August 2, 2021: Storage policy changes at LPC Adjusted flip ...
• The Traffic Mitigation Fee at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will increase by 2.2 later this year.
  June 30, 2021
  The West Coast MTO Agreement (WCMTOA) announced that the Traffic Mitigation Fee (TMF) at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will increase by 2.2 percent on August 1, 2021. The TMF will be $34.21 per TEU or $68.42 for all other sizes of containers and is charged on ...
• Congestion in Asia’s Supply Chain Continues to Grow
  June 11, 2021
  There are continued shipping delays out of Southern China as recent coronavirus outbreaks in Yantian add to the ongoing congestion and shortage of empty containers.  Yantian is one of the top-ranking ports in the Transpacific, with 3.2 million TEU moving in the past 12 months (per Datamyne). Neighboring ports Nansha, Shekou, ...
• Department of Commerce Fully Implements Mandatory Aluminum Licensing Requirement
  June 11, 2021
  The import license reporting requirement under the United States Department of Commerce “Aluminum Import Monitoring and Analysis System” (AIM) will become mandatory on June 28, 2021. The AIM system requires importers and Customs brokers to apply for and obtain an import license for each entry of certain aluminum products into the ...
• Congestion and Coronavirus Outbreak Cause Yantian Port Closure
  May 27, 2021
  Shenzhen’s Yantian Port, one of the busiest ports in China, has closed its export operations due to congestion and a recent Coronavirus outbreak.  The closure began on May 25th and will continue through May 30th. Imports and empty container movements are still operating as normal, and the port will start to ...
• Fish and Wildlife Service to Disclose Confidential Importer Information; Objection Deadline Approaching
  May 27, 2021
  Due to a recent Freedom of Information Act request, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is set to publicly release information related to the imports and exports of wildlife specimens and flora into and out of the U.S. The request seeks all data stored in the Law Enforcement Management Information ...
• Commerce Planning to Raise AD/CVD Duties on Canadian Lumber
  May 25, 2021
  The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) is preliminary set to increase antidumping (AD) and countervailing duties (CVD) on Canadian softwood lumber following AD and CVD administrative reviews.  The increase could take place at the end of November and would double the current duties if implemented.  The current average tariff for ...
• House of Commons Passes Bill: Port of Montreal to Resume Operations
  May 3, 2021
  Following the recent partial strike and an indefinite general strike at the Port of Montreal, workers are back on the job, and operations have resumed this weekend after the Senate passed Bill C-29 on Friday evening.  Although all terminals will be open and in service, it will take several days ...
• Port of Montreal Union Announces Indefinite Strike
  April 23, 2021
  The union representing the Port of Montreal longshore workers has announced an indefinite strike on the territory of the Port of Montreal, including the Contrecoeur terminal, effective Monday, April 26, 2021, at 7:00 AM.  Normal trucking service and operations will be maintained until Friday, April 23, at 11:00 PM.  This ...
• Port of Montreal Union Announces 72-Hour Partial Strike
  April 13, 2021
  On Saturday, the union representing the longshoremen at the Port of Montreal issued a 72-hour notice of a partial strike that will impact all terminals at the port. The work slowdown would include discontinuing overtime work, docking activities, training, and weekend work, but the port will continue working regular hours. ...
• FDA Ups the Ante on FSVP Compliance
  April 13, 2021
  With most aspects of the US Food and Drug Administration’s Food Safety Verification Program (FSVP) in place last year, the FDA will begin stricter enforcement of the regulations in 2021. During the Regulatory Agencies Committee (RAC) monthly meeting (a committee of the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America), ...
• FDA Extends Time to Obtain Unique Facility Identifier for Registration/Biennial Renewal
  March 31, 2021
  The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced the time to obtain and submit a unique facility identifier (UFI), a new datapoint required for registration/biennial registration, has been extended to December 31, 2022. Currently, the only acceptable UFI is a DUNS number assigned by Dun & Bradstreet, and the ...
• USTR Suspends Free Trade Engagement with Burma
  March 31, 2021
  Yesterday, the US Trade Representative (USTR) published a press release announcing that the US would suspend all engagement with Burma under the 2013 Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA), effective immediately. The announcement is in response to Burmese security forces’ brutal violence against civilians. The press release reads, “the USTR will ...
• Suez Canal Frees Up, but Impact Could Take Time to Clean Up
  March 30, 2021
  The Evergreen vessel blocking the Suez Canal was freed yesterday; however, the hundreds of ships waiting to traverse the canal have created a backlog with a rippling effect. Estimates predict days and up to weeks for the backlog to clear. The shipping delays caused by the backlog will likely mean ...
• Aluminum Import Licensing System Delayed Until June
  March 30, 2021
  According to CSMS 46800973, the US Commerce Department has postponed implementing the Aluminum Import Monitoring and Analysis System (AIM) until June 28, 2021. The effective date was March 29th, which was a delay from the original January 25, 2021, date (see Deringer’s January 25th alert). According to the AIM site, ...
• NPR: It ‘Might Take Weeks’ To Free Ship Stuck In Suez Canal, Salvage Company Says
  March 26, 2021
  The Suez Canal passage continues to be blocked in both directions – the waterway has been closed since Tuesday, March 23, when the Ever Given became lodged sideways.  Shippers can expect to see further delays on cargo inbound to the USA/Canada East Coast as the vessel is freed. Please see below ...
• CBP to Host Commodity-Specific Webinars; Stay Tuned for Registration
  March 26, 2021
  In CSMS 46744379, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced that its National Commodity Specialist Division, Office of Trade, will present commodity-specific webinars. The webinars will begin in May and will tentatively extend through August. A subsequent CSMS (46749955) advised that the link to the webinar registration is forthcoming. The May ...
• USTR’s Section 301 Suspension on Large Aircraft Tariffs from EU Began March 11, 2021
  March 26, 2021
  Earlier in March, the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) announced a suspension of Section 301 tariffs relating to the US-European Union large civil aircraft dispute (see Deringer trade alert dated March 8). The aircraft tariffs suspension is in place for a period of four months and began at ...
• CBP Fact Sheet Provides Marking Guidance on Fresh-Cut Flower Imports
  March 26, 2021
  US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) published a fact sheet regarding country of origin marking requirements for fresh-cut flower imports. CBP indicated the guidance document was being made available because “The trend of importing consumer-ready, fresh-cut flower bouquets, or assembling such articles upon importation for sale directly to retailers, has ...
• Port of Montreal: Truce Ends without a Deal, but Talks Continue
  March 22, 2021
  On Sunday, the union representing longshoremen at the Port of Montreal (i.e., CUPE) announced that union members overwhelmingly rejected the most recent offer from the Maritime Employers Association (MEA). A CUPE spokesperson said that longshore workers would like to return to the bargaining table, and the union is not calling ...
• Port of Montreal Truce: Ending March 21st, Talks Remain Confidential
  March 18, 2021
  The Maritime Employers Association (MEA) and the union representing longshoremen at the Port of Montreal (i.e., CUPE) remain in confidential negotiations during its final days of a seven-month truce in effect until March 21, 2021. The following is the most recent available information: According to the Canadian International Freight Forwarders Association, ...
• Final Rule Published Increasing Softwood Lumber Assessment Rate
  March 18, 2021
  In February, the Agricultural Marketing Service published a Final Rule in the Federal Register amending the Softwood Lumber Research, Promotion, Consumer Education, and Industry Information Order by increasing the assessment rate from $0.35 to $0.41 per thousand board feet (mbf) effective April 1, 2021. “This rule will also add the ...
• US-UK and US-EU Suspend Section 301 Tariffs Relating to WTO Aircraft Dispute
  March 8, 2021
  A March 4, 2021, joint press release from the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) and the United Kingdom (UK) announced a four-month suspension of the Section 301 tariffs applied to the large civil aircraft World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute. The UK “ceased applying retaliatory tariffs in the Boeing ...
• Section 301 Tariff Exclusions for Certain COVID-19 Treatment Goods Extended through September
  March 8, 2021
  According to a notice published by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), the USTR will extend Section 301 exclusions on Chinese-origin goods used to treat COVID-19. These exclusions have a new expiry of September 30, 2021, but were previously set to expire at the end of March. “Effective with ...
• Port of Montreal Labor Negotiations Continue; Truce Scheduled to End March 21st
  February 25, 2021
  After a break from negotiations, the Maritime Employers Association (MEA) and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), Local 375 (representing longshoremen at the Port of Montreal), have resumed negotiations this week. The Canadian government has recently introduced new mediators in an attempt to find a resolution before March 21, ...