TradeLane

More news on the US trade remedies front. 

Steel (25%) and aluminum (10%) duties under Section 232 that were initiated on National Security grounds, appear to be even more onerous as the Trump administration has announced that products targeted for Section 232 advanced duties will lose the benefit of GSP trade preference. 

There is great concern that other free trade programs may be similarly affected on Section 232 products. 

Expect supply chain disruptions, higher costs, and litigation.

Thailand is well known as a beautiful country filled with friendly people - the ‘Land of Smiles’. Given this well-deserved reputation, it may come as a surprise that Thailand is also well known in Asia trade compliance circles for very tough customs authorities.

To celebrate the opening of Tradewin Thailand, we wanted to highlight the top 3 reasons for import clearance delays.

As a customs compliance guru for 19 years, I can tell you a lot has changed in terms of technology and data. US Customs alone has spent billions of dollars improving the data that comes from international trade into the United States. When thinking about your supply chain, it is tempting to only think about transportation. But as a lot of importers can attest to, Customs audits can be costly and delays due to Customs can erode your customer’s confidence. Just as cycle and transit times are important, there is quite a lot of data reporting in the compliance world as well.

So what kind of compliance data exists and how will you make use of it?

This is one of those scenario’s we see all the time:

Asia Customs Broker: Hello, Mr. Ahmad, we are sorry. The customs manual documentation cannot be completed because we are missing the HS codes. Can you provide us with the correct one so that we can proceed with the permit application and import declaration, please?

Logistics Employee: Can’t you check our previous shipments? This is not the first time we have imported similar materials into our warehouse! You should have all the details!

Binding rulings allow an importer to get a determination on the correct classification and duty rate for their products in advance of importation.  A binding ruling request can be submitted electronically or in a letter to the CBP Information Exchange, National Commodity Specialist with a detailed description of the product along with relevant specifications, descriptive literature and samples. The importer generally receives a response within 30 days. Once Customs issues the ruling, the classification is binding for all US ports.