Currently, shippers are experiencing delays in the movement of their freight into the Ports of Montreal and Halifax. Several factors are contributing to the delays, such as congestion, increased on-dock dwell times, and driver shortages. The ports have provided these metrics: Montreal: Published average dwell time is 5.5 days during

Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) is moving to its Single Window Initiative and will begin decommissioning their legacy system on April 1st. In a March 29th notice, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) said they will not “reduce the service hours for manually processing import declarations transmitted” through the legacy

Amid a slowing economy, the Chinese government will lower its value-added tax (VAT) effective April 1, 2019. Few news sources have reported the shift. However, a news alert published by Dezan Shira & Associates, an Asian foreign investment firm, reported the following changes as found in China’s annual Work Report:

As of March 16, 2019  U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is requiring new information from importers. Consignees, sold to parties, and buyers are to use the newly published Create/Update Importer Identity Form, CBP Form 5106, to comply with the new data requirements.  Brokers and self-filers may submit the form

Major steamship lines intend to charge a new general rate increase (GRI) for all eastbound ocean cargo from the Far East and Indian sub-continent to all destinations in Canada and the USA. The GRI is slated to go into effect April 15, 2019, as follows: US$900 per 20’ standard container

India and Turkey will be terminated from the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program following a 60-day waiting period. With $5.6 billion of US imports in 2017, India is the biggest beneficiary of the program. Turkey is the fifth-largest participant with $1.7 billion of imported goods. A United States Trade

On February 25, the FDA unveiled the agency’s new strategy to improve its oversight of imported food. This consists of four pillars: prevention of food safety problems in the foreign supply chain, detection and refusal of unsafe foods at the border, rapid re­sponse, and measuring progress on efficiency improvements. Some

President Trump has once again delayed the tariff increase on $200 billion of Chinese-origin goods to the U.S. due to “substantial progress” in trade talks.  With a March 1 deadline, President Trump had planned to increase the tariffs from 10 to 25 percent. The announcement came after months of efforts

An amendment to a California labor statute exposes shippers to liability if they use certain “blacklisted” drayage carriers. The new law went into effect in January 2019, and it applies to any business entity that engages a blacklisted port drayage motor carrier (PDMC) in California. Of note, this applies to

Currently, congestion is causing delays for cargo in and around the Port of Montreal. Several factors are contributing to the delays, including weather conditions, on-dock dwell times, and driver shortages. As a result, some ocean carriers are implementing a congestion fee. Some dray carriers are no longer serving the Port

Imports of fabricated structural steel from Canada, China, and Mexico may come under anti-dumping and countervailing (AD/CVD) injury investigations following a petition that alleges it is being sold at less than fair market value in the US. If an investigation ensues, the Department of Commerce and International Trade Commission could

On January 25th, Hapag-Lloyd declared general average on the 7,510-TEU containership Yantian Express. The vessel and cargo in hold 1 and 2 sustained fire, smoke, and firefighting water damage during its voyage from Colombo, Sri Lanka, to Halifax, Nova Scotia. General average is a principle of maritime law where all

On January 11, the office of the US Trade Representative provided a written response to senators indicating that no exemptions will be allowed on the third tranche of Section 301 tariffs unless they increase from 10 to 25 percent. Approximately 5,700 classification lines of products, accounting for $200 billion in

The US Trade Representative published Federal Register Notice 83 FR 67463 on December 28, 2018, announcing the decision to grant certain exclusions from the 25% duty assessed on goods from China (Tranche 1).  The 25% duty is in response to the Section 301 investigation of China’s acts, policies, and practices

US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) published a final rule announcing regulatory changes to duty drawback that are part of the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 (TFTEA). The Modernized Drawback Final Rule includes several changes, including liberalizing merchandise substitution standards, recordkeeping requirements, and drawback for excise tax.

Beginning January 1, 2019, commercial trucks carrying Section 321 goods will be required to file an advance electronic manifest. Previously, shipments qualifying for Section 321 were exempt from filing an e-manifest as part of a policy decision made by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP). A growth in eCommerce over

Beginning March 22, 2019, US imports of regulated composite wood products must be certified and labeled by a third-party as compliant with Title VI of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Previously, the goods could be certified under the California Air Resources Board’s (CARB) Airborne Toxic Control Measures (ATCM) phase

President Trump and President Xi of China concluded a “highly successful meeting” on Saturday resulted in a moratorium on the Section 301 tariff increases that were slated for effect on January 1, 2019. The tariff increase from 10% to 25% on $200 billion of Chinese-origin goods, or tranche 3, is

Major steamship lines have advised of an intended 2019 GRI for all eastbound cargo moving from the Far East and India to the US and Canada. The GRI comes directly before the congestion of Chinese New Year, which occurs in early February and often lasts for several weeks. Over the

UPS Freight, UPS’ less-than-truckload (LTL) unit, may strike after November 12th unless the union and management can come to a contract agreement. Employees of UPS Freight will vote on a proposed contract between November 9th and 11th. This division is operated separately from other units, so there’s no anticipated impact