CBP Updates Trade Community on GSP Expiration

For those of you that relied on the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) and are now subject to duties, CBP sent a notice today that directly impacts you.

A previous post discussed the expiration of GSP and need for congressional action to renew it. GSP expired July 31, 2013. Importers were advised to continue to use the Special Program Indicator (SPI) “A” when importing into the U.S., which would signify a valid claim for GSP but to pay duty subsequent to that date, so that in the event of a retroactive renewal, CBP could process refunds automatically.

Unfortunately, the picture above is still correct - the trade community is in limbo - will we get our duties refunded if we are entitled to GSP?  The answer... Yes, Maybe, No.  Not comforting or reassuring.

Today, CBP advised the trade community that:

PortMiami Tunnel Opening Celebration!

Today was the historic PortMiami Tunnel Opening (where you can watch my video of the first 3 trucks that officially entered the port tunnel)!  A better video can be found here, courtesy of Local 10.

As the Miami Herald reported today, four long years and $915 million dollars went into this tunnel that will now allow both cruise traffic and trucks to bypass downtown Miami and instead, head straight to the highway.

Much needed relief for residents. And... No Tolls!

E-Cigs "Deemed" Tobacco Under New FDA Proposed Rule

 

On April 24, 2014, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced what some call a "long- awaited" proposed regulation that will impact the future of the currently booming e-cigarette industry. Currently, e-cigarettes are not a part of FDA's purview and have no FDA oversight - FDA's proposed rule intends to change this in a big way.

Export Penalties Already Total $184 MILLION in 2014 – Want to Learn Who, What, Why & How to Stay Compliant?

Within just the first nine weeks of 2014, almost $182 million dollars in penalties have been assessed against companies for OFAC and ITAR export violations.  Within those same nine weeks alone, companies have been ordered to pay the Department of Treasury almost $25 million dollars more than was ordered in all of 2013. Simply put, compliance is critical, and non-compliance is costly!

Don’t miss this update on export enforcement actions stemming from a busy 2013 and start of 2014.

Trade Day is Coming to Miami!

Trade Day is coming to Miami, courtesy of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, (CBP) on April 2, 2014.  The ports of Champlain, Boston, Savannah, Buffalo and Detroit have held Trade Day (some already twice) and we are thrilled CBP's Port of Miami is bringing Trade Day to us.

This is the time to take advantage.  Importers, exporters, customhouse brokers, freight forwarders and all other interested parties in the international trade community - if you have been looking for an informal opportunity to meet one-on-one with government officials that are responsible for processing and facilitating trade related import transactions and enforcing the various Free Trade Agreements and trade laws, this is your chance.

International Travelers Beware - U.S. Customs WILL Seize Your Money...

International travelers often contact me with the same distraught face as the man pictured to my left, after their money is confiscated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) as a result of not properly declaring currency on hand. Declaration Form 6059B will look familiar to all international travelers as you fill it out when entering the U.S. Many times, the rationale for seizure is that parties traveling together split their currency, and even though together they have over the $10,000 minimum, the travelers advise they are each carrying less then the $10,000 minimum requirement for reporting (in question 13 of Form 6059B), resulting in ALL of the currency on hand being seized. Recently, CBP seized $82,000 of currency, and arrested the female driver, after discovering three packages of bulk currency hidden within a vehicle as a female driver attempted to exit the U.S. and enter Mexico. During this holiday season, this post will tell you what you need to know to assure it's NOT YOU that has their currency seized when traveling internationally!

Take 2 - Registration Now Opens For CBP's Symposium in DC

Mark your calendars - the CBP 2014 East Coast Trade Symposium is back on and scheduled for March 6-7, 2014, at the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C.

The theme remains the same - “Increasing Economic Competitiveness Through Global Partnerships and Innovation”. Based on the overwhelming interest received by CBP for participation at the Symposium, CBP is limiting attendance to three (3) participants per company to afford equal representation from all members of the international trade community. If a company exceeds the limitation, subsequent registrations will automatically be placed on the waiting list.

Registration for onsite participation has increased to $128, and will open TODAY, December 18, 2014 at 12:00 p.m. EST. Act fast, this event is usually sold out typically within a day! Attendance at the Symposium is an excellent opportunity to meet with all levels at CBP, so take advantage of this opportunity!

See you at the CBP Symposium!

PortMiami and CBP Join Forces to Bring Back (and Expedite) Transshipment

PortMiami has been working feverishly to bring back transshipment to Miami.

Step one was PortMiami's outreach to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).  PortMiami Director Bill Johnson wrote a letter to Acting CBP Commissioner, Thomas Winkowski, dated June 26, 2013, asking CBP to develop a pilot program, "with a transshipment inspection protocol pilot for PortMiami."

Large Seizure by CBP Highlights High Margins of Counterfeiting, and Necessity of Recordation

Co Authored by Michael De Biase 

One of CBP's latest news releases, dated September 27, 2013, noted that more than 16,000 counterfeit Hermes handbags were seized by Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) because Hermes took the extra step of recording their intellectual property with CBP.   Not surprisingly, when you analyze the difference between the alleged value of the counterfeit products (reported to CBP) as compared to the suggested retail price of the genuine goods, you have a grave difference. In this case, $295,665 (value of counterfeit goods) compared to $210,785,475 (value of genuine goods).  That’s over $210 million worth of potential profits for the counterfeiters, at the expense of Hermes – a crime in every sense. Because Hermes recorded its intellectual property with CBP, CBP seized this infringing merchandise, and will also have the ability to issue a penalty for the MSRP of the merchandise. Yes, that means a penalty in the amount of $210,785,475 will be coming to the counterfeiters!

Most often, counterfeiters target large luxury brands whose goodwill and name recognition has a certain element of exclusivity.  While some may not sympathize with profitable companies, what they fail to realize is that counterfeiting hurts in a variety of other ways. Counterfeiting hurts consumers who buy products under the false impression that they are genuine, companies whose goodwill is tarnished by the inferior quality of the counterfeit products bearing their brands, and it hurts those who worked hard to build something of substantial value.  In this case, Hermes lost out on, potentially, more than $210 million dollars in revenue.  That is not only felt by Hermes the corporation, it hurts the retail stores and the malls they’re in, the shipping companies, the raw materials developers, and the families of the employees for all of these parties.

Luckily for importers and consumers, CBP recognizes the importance of intellectual property protection and provides assistance in stopping the infringing products at our borders.  CBP’s Intellectual Property Rights Recordation (“IPRR”) system allows holders of registered trademarks and copyrights to record their registration with CBP, so that CBP can police the borders for infringing goods.  Once recorded, it is entered into a online search system named IPRS. According to the news released mentioned above regarding catching counterfeiting Hermes at the border, once intellectual property is recorded with CBP,

CBP officers are trained to identify and interdict counterfeit goods, and this is a great example of how their training and expertise are employed every day in our ports of entry,” said CBP Director of Field Operations in Los Angeles Todd C. Owen

Considering the incentives for counterfeiters along with the potential losses for intellectual property rights holders, companies that import merchandise must consider recordation a necessity. Importantly, when you record your marks, you must go to an expert in this area - as this is your opportunity to train CBP on the methods of policing your mark - and only trained experts can work on this proficiently so you have the best results with CBP, like Hermes did. To learn more about the top four benefits of recording your intellectual property, review this article.

To get started on recording your intellectual property, or if you have any questions on how to best have CBP police your recorded trademarks and copyrights, please contact me.

Impact of Government Shutdown

Co Authored by Omar Franco 

The impact of the federal government shutdown, which began October 1, 2013, will be deeply felt by importers and exporters alike. Most government services deemed "essential" by the federal agencies will continue, but “non-essential” services will be discontinued until funding is restored.

This early on, there is no obvious resolution of the budget dispute to tie the FY-2014 government funding to Affordable Care Act (ACA) reforms. Both the House and Senate are entrenched in their positions and they are not scheduled to negotiate any time soon. One side will have to capitulate or bipartisan negotiations will have to lead to a resolution. We feel that negotiations will probably not occur this week as both sides need to assess how the markets and voters will respond to the federal government shutdown. Depending on the public response, we will see movement by one side, probably by Republicans, if the reaction is seen as damaging. As of today, the Dow was up, so the market reaction has been subdued. The reaction from voters is still unknown, but if it is subdued as well, the shutdown will be prolonged. We anticipate the shutdown will last through this week at a minimum.

Some lawmakers are considering broadening the debate by including the debt ceiling. Pressure from resolving the government shutdown could also resolve the debt ceiling issue. The longer the shutdown continues, the more likely the resolution will be tied to the debt ceiling. We do foresee a resolution emerging, however, we do not have any real idea as to what the time frame will be.

To get a glimpse of the impact on the importing and exporting community, we've included updates from the BIS and ITC below.

For example, on the export side, the Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has this note on its website -- they are completely SHUT DOWN, and not accepting licenses - except for emergencies.  See more here:

The Federal Government is currently shut down due to a funding lapse. As a result, the Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is no longer accepting export license applications, classification requests (CCATS), encryption reviews, encryption registrations, or advisory opinion requests. Similarly, BIS will not be issuing any final determinations. The SNAP-R application on BIS's Website is not available and will not reopen until the Federal Government shutdown ends. All pending export license applications, commodity classification requests, encryption reviews, encryption registrations, and advisory opinion requests will be held without action by BIS until the shutdown ends.
Applicants may request emergency processing of export license applications for national security reasons by submitting email requests to Deputy Assistant for Export Administration Matthew Borman.

The subject line of the email should read "Request for Emergency License" and the email must identify the applicant (including point of contact), intermediate and ultimate consignees, and end user(s), items, end use, and national security justification for the emergency processing.

On the import side, the impacts are distinctly felt with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC).  The interactive HTS that I love is not active - and ADD/CVD investigations are tolled.  CUSTOMS Info Global Data Mining has taken the opportunity to present a PDF copy of the HTSUS during the ITC's hiatus here (note you will have to provide your contact information).
See the latest from the ITC's website:

The U.S. International Trade Commission will shut down its investigative activities for the duration of the absence of appropriation. These activities include, but are not limited to, proceedings conducted under the authority of Title VII of the Tariff Act of 1930, including antidumping and countervailing duty investigations and reviews; investigations and ancillary proceedings conducted under the authority of section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930; and investigations conducted under the authority of section 332 of the Tariff Act of 1930.

Investigations tolled 

During shutdown, the schedules and deadlines for all investigative and pre-institution activities will be tolled. All hearings and conferences will be postponed, subject to the exceptions described below. Once the Commission receives funding and the period of the shutdown ends, all schedules will resume starting with the day on which the Commission recommences operations. For example, if the shutdown lasts four days (e.g., October 1-4), then the deadline for the filing of any document on October 4 would be extended four days to October 8. If a rescheduled deadline falls on a nonbusiness day, the deadline will be extended to the next business day. The agency may reconsider schedules after resuming operations.

Exceptions

Notwithstanding the general tolling of schedules:
The staff conferences in preliminary phase antidumping and countervailing duty investigations scheduled to take place on October 7, 2013 and October 9, 2013 will take place as scheduled if the Commission resumes operations by October 3, 2013. Should the shutdown not end before October 3, 2013, all conferences will be rescheduled pursuant to the general tolling provisions described above.

The hearing in the Hot-Rolled Steel five-year reviews scheduled for October 3, 2013 will take place as scheduled if the Commission resumes operations by October 2, 2013. Otherwise, this hearing will be rescheduled upon further notice.

The hearing for Investigation No. 332-541, Trade Barriers that U.S. Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Perceive as Affecting Exports to the European Union, scheduled to take place on October 8, 2013 will take place as scheduled if the Commission resumes operations by October 3, 2013. Otherwise, this hearing will be rescheduled upon further notice.

Website

During shutdown, the online services provided on the Commission's World Wide Web site, at www.usitc.gov, will be unavailable. This includes:

• USITC website
• EDIS
• DataWeb
• HTS Online Reference Tool
• All phone communication with USITC staff
• Restoration of service is expected as quickly as possible after appropriations become available.

If you have an questions on how the shutdown will impact your business contact Omar or me anytime.