Deringer Trade Alerts

• Worker Shortage Closes Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach
  April 7, 2023
  According to the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), “the largest ILWU local on the West Coast has taken a concerted action to withhold labor at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, resulting in widespread worker shortages.” The PMA’s statement continued: “A majority of the jobs for last night’s shift went unfilled, ...
• April 15th General Rate Increase for Container Freight
  April 6, 2023
  Ocean carriers have announced a GRI effective April 15th for $540/$600 per 20’/40’ container for Port to Port and $720/$800 for anything moving over the rail to inland locations. Carriers have not successfully implemented these increases in the past, but we see blank sailings increasing, which is tightening capacity. ...
• Phase VII of Lacey Act Enforcement Schedule Announced
  April 3, 2023
  On March 27, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced it would begin requiring Lacey Act declarations for Phase VII as early as spring 2024.  Phase VII includes all remaining non-composite plant products, including wood, wicker, and rattan furniture (chapter 94), cork products (chapter 45), and some essential ...
• FDA Terminates Pending Option for Unique Facility Identifier Requirement
  March 28, 2023
  According to CSMS# 55593773, the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) flexibility for the Unique Facility Identifier (UFI) requirement for Food Facility Registrations has been terminated, and the choice to select “Pending” is no longer available.  To confirm your registration and provide a registration number, the FDA must verify the accuracy ...
• EPA Releases Guidance on Pesticide Devices Imported into the U.S.
  March 8, 2023
  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a compliance advisory in February 2023 about importing pesticide devices into the U.S., which are subject to statutory and regulatory requirements.  The producing, distributing, or selling of pesticide devices has increased, and the EPA has noticed significant non-compliance with the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, ...
• Forced Labor Prevention Act Region Alert Enhancements Coming to ACE March 18
  February 9, 2023
  On March 18, 2023, CBP will implement an Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) enhancement that will “provide an early notification to importers and their representative of goods that may have been produced in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (Xinjian or XUAR) and may be excluded from importation into the United States.” Whenever ...
• Duty Free Entry eTool System Replaced with New Platform
  January 19, 2023
  On January 15, the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) Duty Free Entry (DFE) eTool System was deactivated and replaced with a new platform, Procurement Integrated Enterprise Environment (PIEE). Vendors/prime contractors are responsible for linking the appropriate brokers to their contracts in PIEE since brokers are not allowed access to the platform. The ...
• FSVP Final Guidance Issued for Importers of Food for Humans and Animals
  January 16, 2023
  Final guidance for the Foreign Supplier Verification Programs (FSVP) for Importers of Food for Human and Animals was issued on Tuesday, January 10, by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).  The guidance provides information for human and animal food importers about how to comply with FSVP regulations, including those ...
• USTR Extends 301 Exclusions an Additional Nine Months
  December 20, 2022
  On Friday, December 16, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced an extension of the 352 product exclusions from Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods scheduled to expire on December 31, 2022.  The new expiration date is September 30, 2023. The exclusions were initially reinstated in March 2022.  ...
• Biden Calls on Congress to Intervene and Avoid National Rail Shutdown
  November 29, 2022
  To avert a national rail shutdown, U.S. President Joe Biden sent a statement yesterday calling for Congress to pass legislation immediately to adopt the Tentative Agreement announced in September between railroad workers and operators.  Biden asked that Congress act “without any modifications or delay.” “As a proud pro-labor President, I am ...
• Tariff Exclusions for COVID-Related Goods Extended
  November 28, 2022
  On Wednesday, November 23, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced in a Federal Register notice that Section 301 tariff exclusions for 81 COVID-related medical care products would be extended an additional 90 days.  The exclusions were previously scheduled to expire on November 30, 2022, but will now be extended ...
• Largest Rail Union Rejects Labor Deal, Possible Freight Rail Strike in Two Weeks
  November 21, 2022
  On Monday, the largest railroad union, the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers (SMART-TD), representing the industry’s conductors, rejected a five-year contract agreement brokered by the White House in September.  The contract was narrowly voted against by just 50.8% of workers. In previous weeks, three smaller unions, including the Brotherhood ...
• Deringer Prepared for Storm in Buffalo
  November 18, 2022
  A State of Emergency was declared yesterday for parts of Western New York due to a heavy lake-effect snowstorm that began on Wednesday and is expected to last through Sunday.  As a result, there are several road closures to commercial truck traffic, travel bans, and canceled pickups and deliveries for ...
• Agricultural Marketing Service Proposes Updated HTS Numbers for Paper Packaging Products
  November 9, 2022
  According to Federal Register 7 CFR Part 1222, the Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is accepting comments on proposed changes to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) numbers for paper and paper-based packaging products in the Paper and Paper-Based Packaging Promotion, Research, and Information Order (Order). All interested parties who ...
• Rail Congestion Continues in Toronto
  September 20, 2022
  Canada’s rail problems are not going away any time soon, and it’s significantly impacting the industry.  Deringer’s partners are currently reporting container congestion at the Toronto rail terminals.  Long lines at the yards are hindering delivery and pick-up times, and shippers may see additional charges for terminal waiting time, terminal ...
• Possible National Railroad Strike on the Horizon
  September 14, 2022
  Railroads and unions continue to negotiate their contract but remain at an impasse over quality of life issues regarding sick time and penalties for missing work.  As a result, the potential for a national rail strike or lockout could occur on September 16 at 12:01 AM, following a federally mandated ...
• West Coast Port Negotiations Still Underway
  September 9, 2022
  Labor contract negotiations for the West Coast Port Worker Union have been ongoing since May 10, 2022.  The parties continue to negotiate without a contract in place.  While there was some press in July about a tentative agreement on health/benefits, the parties have not made much progress on other issues. It ...
• Imported Seafood Pilot Program Begins Third Phase
  August 23, 2022
  On August 15, 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) launched the third phase of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Imported Seafood Pilot program.  The pilot utilizes AI and machine learning (ML) to strengthen the screening process for foods that enter the U.S.  It focuses on seafood because more than ...
• Canada’s Rail Challenges Continue in Montreal and Toronto
  August 19, 2022
  As congestion increases at Montreal railyards, additional charges are becoming more common.  As volumes into the port increase, terminal yards are regularly full, and reservations to return empty containers are not always available.  The inability of terminals to accept empty equipment returns can lead to demurrage fees from the steamship ...
• Hardwood Plywood from Vietnam Found to be Sourced from China
  August 18, 2022
  Following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Commerce, it was determined that certain hardwood plywood (HWPW) products and veneered panels currently imported from Vietnam actually contain Chinese core materials.  Therefore, these imports are subject to antidumping duty (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) and are subject to tariffs ranging as ...
• CN Rail Establishes Relief Container Yards to Relieve Backlog of Containers
  August 15, 2022
  Ongoing port congestion and import container dwell times in the ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert have forced Canadian National Railway (CN) to establish multiple relief container yards in Toronto and Montreal to help clear the backlog and restore fluidity in the supply chain network.  CN started moving marine containers ...
• CBP Announces Adjusted COBRA Fees for Fiscal Year 2023
  August 4, 2022
  According to CSMS 52834229, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has announced an adjustment of certain COBRA Customs user fees and limitations for the Fiscal Year 2023, required as of October 1, 2022. A complete list of these fees and the methodology used in determining them can be found in the ...
• New USDA Database for Agricultural Commodities
  July 18, 2022
  The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) developed a new database that is a single source to search and display import requirements for animal, plant, and agriculturally related products.  The new database, called “Agricultural Commodity Import Requirements” (ACIR), will replace the Fruit and Vegetable ...
• Biden Appoints PEB to Investigate Rail Labor Dispute
  July 18, 2022
  On July 15, 2022, President Biden signed an Executive Order creating a Presidential Emergency Board (PEB) to help resolve the ongoing labor dispute between the nation’s largest rail carriers and the unions representing rail workers. According to the Executive Order, Biden wrote, “I have been notified by the National Mediation Board ...
• AMS and CBP Fixing Issue with HTS Filings of Potatoes
  July 6, 2022
  U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued CSMS #52344962 on July 1, 2022, indicating that AMS and CBP were fixing an issue in the AMS logic in ACE that affects the HTS filings of potatoes for various Marketing Order (MO) message sets.  As a temporary fix, the severity for the ...
• DUNS Required for FSVP Entries & Enforcement Policy for Food Facility Registrations
  July 6, 2022
  According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), beginning July 24, 2022, the use of “UNK” (Unknown) will no longer be allowed in lieu of a DUNS number for food imports covered by the Foreign Supplier Verification Program (FSVP).  Use of the “UNK” was temporarily allowed when the FSVP requirements ...
• Biden Increases Tariffs on Certain Russian Imports
  July 5, 2022
  On June 27, 2022, President Joe Biden signed Presidential Proclamation 10420, increasing the column two rates of duty on certain articles originating from the Russian Federation.  All products listed in Appendix A of the proclamation will be subject to a duty rate of 35% effective July 27, 2022. The tariff increase ...
• Rail Congestion in Canada’s Supply Chain
  June 29, 2022
  Rail hubs and local warehouses in Toronto and Montreal are suffering congestion problems due to a shortage of drayage capacity for receiving cargo from Prince Rupert and Vancouver.  As a result, West Coast ports are feeling the pressure, with rail dwells at marine terminals elevated and the inland movement of ...
• PVC Recently Linked to Forced Labor and Environmental Abuse in the Uyghur Region
  June 22, 2022
  The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), which bans any articles made wholly or in part in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), went into effect yesterday, June 21.  However, a recent report links environmental and labor abuses in the XUAR to polyvinyl chloride, commonly known as vinyl or PVC. China ...
• CN and IBEW Undergo Negotiations to Avoid Potential Strike
  June 16, 2022
  Canadian National Railway (CN) received a 72-hour strike notice from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) yesterday.  The union, representing approximately 750 employees in Canada, is prepared to strike beginning at 11 AM EST on Saturday.  CN and the union continue to negotiate, and CN also offered to resolve ...