Customs Trade Symposium – SAVE THE DATE!

Date:  March 10-11, 2020

Location:  Anaheim, CA

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Complying with U.S. Export Controls

Date:  March 17-18, 2020

Location:  Orlando, FL

This two-day program is led by BIS's professional counselling staff and provides an in-depth examination of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). The program will cover the information exporters need to know to comply with U.S. export control requirements on commercial goods. We will focus on what items and activities are subject to the EAR.

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Cheese trays can be nice holidays gifts!  Did you bring any back with you from your holiday travels?  If you did, did TSA inspect your bag?  They probably did!!!  Did you know that cheese can look just like a bomb when it is passed through the TSA Xray screens?  “A block of cheese could be indistinguishable from C4.  There is no difference on the screen.  Meats too.  All organic products look orange on the display and look like explosives.” Reported a TSA agent.  C4 is a common variety of a plastic explosive that could be harmful in an explosion

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CBP has released their schedule for the customs broker’s license exams for 2020.  The April 2020 exam will be held on Wednesday, April 1, 2020, and exam scheduled for October 2020 will be held on Thursday, October 8, 2020.  Registration for the April 2020 exam will open on February 3rd at 12:00 AM EST.

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Laurie Arnold, Regulatory Compliance Officer of JAS Forwarding and Legislative Committee Chair for NCBFAA, attended a meeting organized by NCBFAA at Senator Lindsay Graham’s office in Washington DC.  The meeting was to discuss the bankruptcy bill (HR2261 currently in the house with 25 Congressional co-sponsors) and to try to get the Senate version underway.  She is diligently working with industry professionals on the bill in an attempt to get it passed into law.

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Congratulations to Tiffany Coffey as she was named the President of the Customs Brokers and International Freight Forwarders Association of Virginia (CBIFFA)!  The mission of the organization is to serve the State of Virginia freight forwarder and customs broker community by providing a central source of information regarding industry laws and regulations.  Tiffany has been active in the organization for the past two years.  She also brings over 20 years of experience to CBIFFA and JAS!  Congratulations and best wishes to her as President!

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An extension for up to 12 months of the second set of exclusions from the Section 301 additional tariff imposed on List 1 goods from China is under consideration by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Comments may be submitted between Jan. 15 and Feb. 15.

List 1 comprises 818 eight-digit HTSUS numbers that have been subject to an additional 25 percent tariff since July 6, 2018. The second set of exclusions from this tariff for List 1 goods was issued in March 2019 and is set to expire March 25, 2020. USTR is now considering a possible extension of these exclusions and will evaluate each on a case-by-case basis.

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The United States and Japan have achieved a trade agreement regarding market access for certain agricultural and industrial goods.  The Japanese Legislature approved the agreement on December 5, 2019.  The Presidential Proclamation was issued on December 26, 2019 establishing an effective date of January 1, 2020.   CBP has also provided compliance guidance through a CSMS message that included instructions on filing customs entries impacted by the trade agreement.

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The USTR announced that tariffs on certain goods imported from the European Union could be increased to as much as 100 percent under a plan currently under consideration by the Trump administration. Some of the goods impacted are aircraft and aircraft parts, agricultural products, handbags, tools, books and paper, textiles and apparel, carpets and rugs, clocks, bicycle parts, knives, and others.  USTR is requesting comments on the impact of small and medium sized businesses and consumers.  Comments on the possible changes are due by January 13th.

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