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If you’ve been tasked with getting your company’s import compliance under control,  these five steps will get you quickly up-to-speed Taking on a new position at an importer usually means sifting through the remnants of your predecessor’s activities and policies and trying to come up with a way to work better, smarter, and faster. These goals aren’t always…

How those burdensome Customs rules and regulations imposed on importers and exporters can make companies more competitive and efficient. Companies engaged in international trade are quick to complain about their regulatory burden. Indeed, one could cite countless cases of shipments delayed by agents of U.S. Customs and Border Protection for the importer’s failure to adhere…

Written by Alejandro E. Moreno | Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP Soon after Fidel Castro overthrew the government of Cuba to found a communist state in 1959, Cuba began nationalizing U.S-owned properties in Cuba. In response, the U.S. implemented trade restrictions, closed its embassy in Havana, broke official diplomatic relations with Cuba, and attempted…

On March 8, President Donald Trump announced that trade remedies would be imposed on steel and aluminum imports pursuant to Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. Section 232 allows for trade remedies when the president, acting through and on the recommendation of the Department of Commerce, finds that imports threaten the national…

China’s announcement that it would be imposing a 25 percent additional tariff on exported American pork could not have come at a worse time for the American pork industry, coming as it does after the industry had just hit record levels in 2017, when U.S. pork exports recorded the largest year ever in volume, with sales…

In transportation, everyone knows that bigger is always better; it’s why we have 18-wheelers and jumbo jets. So, it only stands to reason that ships, which still move about 90 percent of all global trade, would travel this route. Big time. And, indeed, since their civilian introduction in the 1950s, container ships have grown with the…

MasterCardBiz with Laurel Delaney One of the most important things to negotiate before closing on an export sale is how payment will be made. Short of asking for payment in advance, securing payment with a letter of credit is the next best option. Sure it’s a little more expensive–typically 1/8 of 1 percent of the…

E-commerce logistics costs as a proportion of sales look set to rise in the coming years, driven by an increase in the volume of returns, a higher proportion of premium deliveries, and the cost of labor, according to the findings of an e-commerce logistics survey released by Transport Intelligence. 108 retailers and logistics companies around…

The Commerce Department has recently issued procedures for exclusion requests from the newly imposed tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. These tariffs were announced by President Trump on March 8, 2018, and the Commerce Department was directed to issue procedures for requesting exclusions within ten days of the announcement. The new procedures have been released…

The change in demand for light vehicles manufactured in Mexico is leading the country’s automakers to produce more trucks and SUVs for the US market. Last January, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) announced that it will move its production of pick-ups from Mexico to the United States.  This move appears to be the result of the…

Commerce Department Export Controls (Export Administration Regulations) The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) of the United States Commerce Department has responsibility for administering export controls on commodities, software, and technology that is not within the jurisdiction of another agency. The Export Administration Regulations (EAR) issued by BIS set forth the scope of this authority….