Whether you’re a foreign company importing your products to the United States, or you’re an American company importing foreign goods as part of your business, you’ll need to account for the merchandise processing fee (MPF). While the terms of payment are relatively straightforward, there are many considerations that determine how much an importer ultimately pays….
1. Executive Orders President Trump issued two Executive Orders on March 31, 2017, signaling the new administration’s opposition to unfair trade practices. The first Executive Order (See Original Document Here) directs the Department of Commerce (“DOC”) and the United States Trade Representative (“USTR”) to conduct a broad review of differential tariffs, non-tariff barriers, injurious dumping, injurious…
Crossborder selling has become easy enough that small and medium-sized businesses from every corner of the economy want to take advantage of the global marketplace. According to research recently published by DHL Express, cross-border online retail is predicted to grow at twice the rate of domestic e-commerce until 2020. But for small and medium-sized businesses with…
Small businesses are on the front lines of growth, accounting for two-thirds of new jobs and half of our country’s economic output. Their experiences and perspectives tell us a lot about where our economy is headed—and what our leaders in Washington should be doing to help. To dive deeper into the attitudes and concerns of…
UPS announced the results of its 2017 UPS Business Monitor™ Export Index Latin America (BMEI) report. The study focuses on the purchasing behaviors of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), a segment representing more than 90% of companies in Latin America¹. It reveals insights about importers that will help exporters sell and supply products to this growing…
What are the odds of hitting nirvana with your business when it comes to taking it global? In “17 Tips to Grow a Global Business,” I talked about what you need to do to grow your business beyond borders. Here, I offer you a slightly different twist — a variety of ways, a checklist if…
China gets a bad rap for taking US jobs, but a recent trend is seeing Chinese manufacturing companies moving to the US in search of lower production costs and higher profits. While Made in China seems to be the byword for manufactured goods in the US, many Chinese manufacturers who sell to US markets are…
In the world of Internet Slang, the abbreviation “LOL” means “Laughing Out Loud”. But, in the highly complex and regulated world of global trade compliance, it has a completely different meaning – Letter of the Law! This is essentially how U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) interprets the intricate world of global trade. While it’s…
Last year, on a typical day the U.S. Customs and Border Protections (CBP) seized about $3.8 million worth of products because of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Violations. CBP reported that the total number of IPR seizures has increased nine (9) percent since last year, from 28,865 in 2015 to 31,560 in 2016. With the manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) exceeding $1.3…
The Mystery of Loss of US Manufacturing Jobs is Solved We’re seeing hours of media discussions about the loss of US Manufacturing jobs with few commentators discussing the facts. Washington continues to say that free trade with Mexico is hurting the US economy and siphoning off manufacturing jobs to Mexico at the expense of the…
Supply-chain management today is very much a game of numbers. But the risk of getting lost in the math is real. It’s all about analytics – the method by which managers crunch an increasingly vast universe of numbers to reach key decisions on procurement, production, inventory and sales. In the era of Big Data, it’s…
2016 was a rocky year for both Pacific Rim gateways, but this year looks promising, indeed. Transpacific shippers and other transport stakeholders were given briefings recently by the ports of Oakland and Long Beach to reassure them that they’d be competitive in 2017 and beyond. For Oakland, just to say that a year ago might…
