L.A. clothing importer admits to skirting $6.4 million in customs tariffs
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L.A. clothing importer admits to skirting $6.4 million in customs tariffs

A Los Angeles County clothing brand has agreed to plead guilty to submitting fake customs forms to skirt almost $6.4 million in tariffs and to doing business with a woman who has ties to the Sinaloa drug cartel, federal prosecutors said Tuesday. Ghacham Inc. and a company executive, Mohamed Daoud Ghacham, 38, will both plead…

Air Transportation of Lithium Metal and Lithium-Ion Batteries Revised for the 2022 Regulations
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Air Transportation of Lithium Metal and Lithium-Ion Batteries Revised for the 2022 Regulations

REGULATORY UPDATE The International Air Transport Association (IATA) now forbids shipping stand-alone lithium metal batteries, UN3090, and stand-alone lithium-ion batteries, UN3480, classified as  Section II shipments via air. Section II shipments are smaller shipments of lithium batteries that had previously been granted exceptions for many of the IATA’s dangerous air goods shipping rules. The updated…

Dumping on American Builders and Homebuyers
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Dumping on American Builders and Homebuyers

By Scott Lincicome // CATO Institute As we at Cato frequently explain, “trade remedies” tariffs — antidumping, countervailing duty, and safeguard actions — are one of U.S. trade policy’s dirty little secrets. They’re insanely (and intentionally) complex, buried in layers of regulatory mumbo‐​jumbo, and thus mostly ignored by politicians, media, and laypeople who often claim or believe that…

Section 307 of the Tariff Act: What Does It Mean for Importers?
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Section 307 of the Tariff Act: What Does It Mean for Importers?

Section 307 of the Tariff Act Prohibits the importation of any items that were made, in whole or in part, with forced or indentured labor. CBP enforces the law through the issuance of Withhold Release orders that deny entry to shipments the agency believes have products or uses components made with forced labor. In the…

Updates to Harmonized Tariff Schedule of The United States
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Updates to Harmonized Tariff Schedule of The United States

Last year the World Customs Organization (WCO) released 2022 Harmonized Systems Updates. The updates mark the most significant changes in the HTS in over five years. US Importers need to prepare for implementing the new schedule that will go into effect on January 27, 2022.   On December 23, the Presidential Proclamation modification of the Harmonized…

Updates to Harmonized Tariff Schedule of The United States
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Updates to Harmonized Tariff Schedule of The United States

Last year the World Customs Organization (WCO) released 2022 Harmonized Systems Updates. The updates mark the most significant changes in the HTS in over five years. US Importers need to prepare for implementing the new schedule that will go into effect on January 27, 2022.   On December 23, the Presidential Proclamation modification of the Harmonized…

USTR Provides Another Bite at the Section 301 Exclusion Extension Apple
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USTR Provides Another Bite at the Section 301 Exclusion Extension Apple

That title is a mouthful, pardon the expression, but it is a fact that the Office of the United States Trade Representative is accepting applications to reinstate exclusions to the Section 301 tariffs on China. Attentive readers will recall the agency established a procedure under which affected parties (such as importers) could seek removal of specific products…

Export Controls on Personal Protection Equipment and Exceptions
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Export Controls on Personal Protection Equipment and Exceptions

Around the same time the Food and Drug Administration was loosening import requirements for such Personal Protection Equipment as masks and respirators, the Federal Emergency Management Agency imposed export controls on many of the same items. FEMA’s Temporary Final Rule limits exports of N95 filtering facepiece respirators, other filtering facepiece respirators, elastomeric, air-purifying respirators and appropriate particulate…

Trade Customs Rulings & Decisions – The iHome SmartPlugs
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Trade Customs Rulings & Decisions – The iHome SmartPlugs

Maybe you already have one. Or ten. Perhaps you command them with a steady voice – “Alexa?” “Hey, Google!” – or you could be old school and just reach out and actually turn something on or off by hand. Whichever is your style, smart plugs and bulbs have invaded our homes, and they won’t be going away.   iHome SmartPlugs plug into an…

How to Navigate the Section 301 Tariff Process
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How to Navigate the Section 301 Tariff Process

Step One: Know Your HTS Subheading Every product subject to a proposed or ongoing Section 301 tariff action is identified by an 8-digit or 10-digit HTS Subheading. This search engine allows you to search by an 8-digit HTS Subheading to obtain information about a proposed or ongoing Section 301 tariff action. If you do not…

New Section 301 Tariff Exclusion Process for COVID-19-Related Items
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New Section 301 Tariff Exclusion Process for COVID-19-Related Items

The Coronavirus pandemic has affected pretty much every aspect of life in the United States. We can now add trade policy to the list. As part of the Federal government’s efforts to address the spread and treatment of COVID-19, the Trade Representative’s office is considering exclusion of medical care products from the Section 301 tariffs on imports from…

Trade Customs Rulings & Decisions – The “Peeps” Bunny Plush Toy in a Mug
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Trade Customs Rulings & Decisions – The “Peeps” Bunny Plush Toy in a Mug

The Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is a state’s body. Vested with the power and authority to issue custom legal rulings. It also deals with other legal decisions that relate to the importation of merchandise.  The rulings enable the international trade community to understand how the CPB will treat a prospective carrier transaction or import….