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Laurie Arnold Vice President Compliance for JAS Forwarding (USA) Inc. was elected as the Treasurer to the National Customs Brokers & Freight Forwarders Association of America (NCBFAA) at the 49th Annual NCBFAA conference in Tucson AZ on May 2nd. The NCBFAA is a national membership headquartered in Washington DC that represents more than 1,000 member companies with over 110,000 employees in international trade-the nation’s leading freight forwarders, customs brokers, ocean transportation intermediaries, NVOCC’s and air cargo agents, serving more than 250,000 importers and exporters. The NCBFAA established in 1897, is the effective national voice of the industry. The association keeps a close eye over legislative and regulatory issues affecting the international trade community.
Laurie has served the last 3 years as the Legislative Committee Chair for the NCBFAA, working with the congressional offices on a variety of issues, including the America Competes Act currently in congress. The America Competes Act (HR4521) covers multiple areas including the Illegal Fishing & Forced Labor Prevention Act (SIMP) and Import Security & Fairness Act. Working on The Customs Business Fairness Act (CBFA) HR4816 by far is where her passion shows. She was instrumental in having the language from this bill included in the Cares Act of 2020. The provision provided customs brokers a year reprieve of being required to return any customs duty received from the importer and provided to US Customs as a pass through if the importer filed bankruptcy. While the provision did expire at the end of 2021, she has remained committed to making the CBFA permanent. Laurie is looking forward to serving in her new role as the Treasurer for the NCBFAA.
On February 11, 2025, the President issued a proclamation regarding the importation of steel and aluminum articles, increasing tariff rates to 25% from all countries. As part of that proclamation, it was announced that there would be expanded 25% tariffs to include key downstream products (derivatives) for both steel and aluminum. The Annex containing those products has been drafted and is expected to be officially published in the Federal Register on February 18, 2025.
Key Points:
• There are 167 new codes for steel downstream products (derivatives) subject to the 25% tariff referenced in this proclamation (covering 4 different chapters of the HTSUS).
• There are 123 new codes for aluminum downstream products (derivatives) subject to the 25% tariff referenced in this proclamation (covering 11 different chapters of the HTSUS).
To read the draft Federal Register, and access our Excel listing of HTS affected, click the links below:
For February, we are highlighting Jacquelyn Bakker, our CHB Manager in the JAS Chicago office. Jacqulyn started her career in the industry in 2012 in an accounting role before moving into the brokerage side in 2014. In her words, that’s when she “found my niche.” Jacquelyn joined JAS in 2018. After being named as the Brokerage Supervisor, Jacquelyn decided to take on the “daunting task” of obtaining her broker’s license. After 3 months of studying, Jacquelyn was able to pass on the first try! Jacquelyn manages a team of 6 entry writers in our Chicago branch and CHB manager. Jacquelyn is detail oriented and attentive to the needs of her clients internally and externally!
Jacquelyn has a 19-year old daughter, loving fiance and 2 dogs at home. She enjoys family time BBQing in the summer, taking the dogs for longs walks, playing Pokemon Go with family and seeing movies in the theater.
Jacquelyn is yet another great example that People Make the Difference!
CBP is leading global efforts in combating forced labor by imposing import bans on goods produced with forced labor. This has inspired international action, including the European Union’s adoption of similar measures and the inclusion of forced labor prohibitions in the USMCA. CBP’s actions have also driven labor reforms, notably in Malaysia, which launched a National Action Plan on Forced Labor and ratified an international protocol to combat forced labor. These advancements demonstrate CBP’s significant influence in shaping global supply chain accountability and driving positive change.
Read more about it by checking out the link below:
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