So, you operate in a foreign country where you want to ship Huawei products incorporating controlled US technology to a foreign buyer? You wish to sell such technology or products to a Huawei affiliate from the United States or abroad? Watch out, its illegal. Accused of corporate espionage and illicit sales to Iran under U.S.…
Foreign-origin products made with forced labor, child labor, North Korean labor and even restrained animal labor have come to the forefront of enforcement policy by the U.S. Customs & Border Protection Agency (“CBP” or “Customs”). Not a priority in the past because the federal law had a “consumption exception” whereby if domestic production of the…
In an earlier article, I noted that Mexico last year became the largest merchandise trade partner of the U.S., outpacing Canada and supplanting third-place China. It is expected that Mexico will hold this leading position for the next several decades, particularly given the ongoing repositioning of international supply chains from Communist China to Latin America…
In mid-September, the Trump Administration announced proposed major changes strengthening certain of the Buy American preferences for purchases by the federal government. The federal Buy American Act is the leading federal law, of several in effect, that mandates a preference for American origin manufactured end products and construction materials. Currently, the Buy American regulations empower…
If you are a U.S. importer, you should have been assigned to one of the Centers for Excellence and Expertise of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”). In this regard, CBP is shifting more and more import review responsibilities to its ten Centers for Excellence and Expertise (CEEs). The CEEs were established by CBP…
The past twenty-four hours brings news from Khartoum that Sudan has brokered a deal with rebel groups and it is indicating the adoption of considerable flexibility in its policy towards the State of Israel. These two preconditions have been the stumbling block to the removal of additional restraints on trading in US origin goods with…
Recent changes to Customs’ Drawback Program have earned the participation of formerly skeptical customs compliance managers and individual importers, leading to millions of dollars in refunds for the drawback of import duties, fees, and for some products, taxes. Drawback is the refund, under certain circumstances, of 99 percent of the duties and specified…
The longest continuous US trade embargo has been in effect on Cuba since the corrupt communist Castro brothers took over the island nation in 1959, or 61 years ago. While there are Bureau of Industry & Security (“BIS”) export license exceptions for the export to Cuba of certain agricultural products (AGR), specified communications and computer…
A case filed on September 10th has causes a cascade of filings in the Court of International Trade in the past few days. The HMTX case, brought by an importer of vinyl tile from China, challenges the procedures used by the Administration in imposing 25 percent added tariffs on goods in Lists 3 and 4A. …
Given the ongoing trade dispute with China, there is a widespread view that the US dare not upset the apple cart with our largest trading partner. But China is not our largest trading partner, nor are they second. They are third, and their inherent position of weakness is evident in the statistics – China maintains…