The American Association of Port Authorities said that $17 billion dedicated to ports is “a substantial down payment on the $29 billion in federal investments necessary to modernizing our ports and ensuring that our trade infrastructure remains strong.” It said that more than a quarter of U.S. GDP is connected to imports and exports through the seaports.
Penny Naas, president of UPS's international public affairs, said one bright spot in logistics during the pandemic is that more countries accepted electronic documents as goods crossed borders. She gave the example of an inefficient paper-based process as a country requiring a stamp, or chop, on goods entering or exiting the country. “A lot of that was suspended during COVID-19, but we’re starting to see some of that creep back,” she said during an Atlantic Council webinar March 31 on logistics. Naas called for digitalizing the import processes for low-value shipments, as direct exports to consumers grow rapidly. “There’s a way to digitalize it; but it’s expensive, and it’s not necessarily the sexiest of issues to digitalize the border,” she said. But if countries did, it would be a tremendous opportunity to stop illicit trade and increase revenue collection, she said.
Alcohol trade groups and the retailers and restaurants that sell alcoholic beverages are asking for the tariffs on distilled spirits in connection with the Section 232 tariffs to be lifted and the pause in tariffs on wines and spirits in the aircraft subsidy case to be made permanent. Calling themselves the Toasts Not Tariffs Coalition, the 47-member coalition made the call March 23. They noted that European countries continue to tax bourbon and whiskey at 25%, and that that rate is set to double on June 1, because of U.S. tariffs on British and European Union-made steel.
Descartes Systems acquired QuestaWeb, Descartes said in a March 1 news release. Descartes said paid about $36 million with cash on hand for the company, a trade management software company and ACE developer. “In today’s complex and dynamic regulatory environment, technology is crucial to ensure that supply chains are compliant and efficient at each step along the way,” said Ken Wood, executive vice president-product management at Descartes. “The addition of QuestaWeb’s FTZ solution brings an important capability to our Global Logistics Network and will help our customers manage the entire foreign-trade zone process, allowing them to minimize duties, fees and taxes while remaining compliant with CBP regulations.” Descartes has made several acquisitions in recent years (see 1901280021 and 1612280024).
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has warmly endorsed Katherine Tai to be U.S. trade representative. In a letter sent Feb. 23, Executive Vice President Myron Brilliant said her experience at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and as chief trade counsel for the House Ways and Means Committee, is invaluable. “She combines policy acumen, negotiating experience, and political savvy,” he wrote. “While one important aspect of USTR’s mission is to address unfair trading practices, the previous Administration’s dramatic expansion in the application of tariffs contributed directly to a manufacturing and agriculture recession well in advance of the [COVID-19] pandemic, and this experience illustrates the perils of an excessive reliance on tariffs. The next USTR must avoid the use of tariffs as a blunt instrument, and must avoid inaction on trade agreements as well,” he said, adding that Tai understands that.
International law firm Akin Gump has partnered with Palantir Technologies to create RegSpot, a digital services platform intended to help Akin Gump's clients address their legal needs and compliance issues, a Feb. 18 news release said. The platform's first module is designed to help with due diligence concerns involving U.S. export restrictions on transactions involving military end-use or end-users (MEU) in designated countries. Dubbed the “MEU Tool, powered by Palantir,” the module is intended to streamline the due diligence process of collecting and reviewing the relevant information while incorporating Akin Gump's assessment capabilities to respond to the legal risks posed by certain transactions, the release said. “With the increasing complexities of U.S. export controls, companies face the daunting task of conducting sufficient due diligence to identify and respond to red flags,” Tom McCarthy, Akin Gump’s head of international trade practice, said. “The MEU Tool helps provide an auditable process that promotes consistency, reduces human errors, and serves as a recordkeeping tool to demonstrate a company’s compliance efforts. This function is critical as companies face increasing scrutiny from regulators in an ever-changing legal landscape.”
American Association of Exporters and Importers CEO Marianne Rowden believes automation is going to replace a lot of tariff classification work over the coming years. “Will human beings be doing tariff classification in the next three to five years? I don't think so -- I think it’s all going to be done by machine,” Rowden told a National Association of Foreign-Trade Zones online conference Feb. 9. She also predicted that the moratorium on customs duties on digital transactions, such as downloads of games or movies, will end in the medium term. “Every two years there is a vote at the World Trade Organization on the moratorium on customs duties on digital transmissions,” she said. “I think we’re going to lose that vote probably within the next five to six years because governments, particularly developing countries, are so desperate for revenue.”
DSV is offering a new customs classification service to “provide a structured, straightforward process which can be used early in the company’s import and export planning activity,” DSV's Robert Wisniewski, customs manager, International Shared Service Center, said in a news release. The “service is divided into seven steps, where customs information about the goods is analysed, classified and validated by DSV customs classification experts on behalf of the customer,” the company said. “When all customs documents are ready to be handed over to the relevant authorities, DSV shares this with the customer.” Wisniewski said the classification team “consists of subject matter experts who have an in-depth understanding of global merchandise as well as the legal aspects of customs tariffs.”
Amazon bought 11 Boeing 767-300 aircraft -- seven from Delta and four from WestJet -- that will join its leased air cargo network by 2022, it said Jan. 5. The goal is to continue delivering goods to customers “in the way that they expect from Amazon, and purchasing our own aircraft is a natural next step,” said Sarah Rhoads, vice president-Amazon Global Air. The company will continue to rely on third-party carriers to operate its fleet, it said.
Amadeus Capital Partners agreed to invest $7 million in Altana AI, “a start-up working with governments, global enterprises, and supply chain solutions providers to de-risk global supply chains,” the companies said in a news release. Altana customers “gain global supply chain visibility and risk intelligence through the Altana Atlas -- a shared artificial intelligence model of the global supply chain.”