International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Nov. 19-22 in case they were missed.
Mexico’s recently-passed tax and customs law reform won’t have much direct effect on customs clearance, but it will wreak havoc on the balance sheets of many maquiladora factories along the border, said several Mexican customs and tax lawyers. The reform, which cleared its last hurdle in the Mexican senate Oct. 31, will introduce electronic audits, new self-disclosure provisions, and minor changes to the Mexican customs brokerage regime, the lawyers said. The law’s biggest impact on trade, however, will be from increased taxation of maquiladoras -- the bonded manufacturing facilities along the U.S.-Mexico border that produce goods for export -- through the imposition of a value added tax on temporary imports and the end of tax breaks.
Nearly one-third of exporters have lost sales because of U.S. export regulations, according to the CBP Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations (COAC) 2013 Export Survey (here). COAC members discussed the survey, the first of its kind, at a meeting on Nov. 15 in Washington, D.C. Two of the main takeaways from the survey were the impact of export regulations on exporters and freight forwarders and the high cost of exports held at ports. One way the government could mitigate these negative outcomes is through flexible programs that target risk based on industry sector, said CBP’s Dan Baldwin.
CBP plans to publish an official notice in coming weeks that will begin a pilot program that combines the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) and the Importer Self Assessment (ISA) programs, said Acting Commissioner Tom Winkowski during the CBP Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations (COAC) meeting on Nov. 15. The COAC Trusted Trader subcommittee is reviewing and will provide feedback on a "high level overview" of the coming Federal Register notice, said a report on the program's process from Valerie Neuhart, director of Industry and Account Management at CBP (here).
Cargo processing delays and exams continued to be the largest challenge faced by importers and brokers, according to the second annual trade efficiency survey, which was released Nov. 8 by CBP. The survey, completed in July by the Advisory Committee On Commercial Operations (COAC), is meant to be a look at CBP's trade facilitation efforts and success at lowering costs of compliance. The retroactive system of antidumping/countervailing duty orders seems to have a disproportionate effect on the trade industry considering the amount of discussion and controversy the issue creates, the survey said. The survey was among a large set of COAC materials released by CBP (see 13111227).
CBP posted its draft agenda and 23 other documents for the upcoming Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of Customs and Border Protection (COAC) meeting on Nov. 15, which include the results of the 2013 trade efficiency survey, draft recommendations, and other documents on trade modernization, the global supply chain, trade enforcement and other topics. The draft agenda is (here). The trade survey (here) will be summarized in more detail in a future issue of ITT.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Nov. 4-8 in case they were missed.
NEWTON, Mass. -- As CBP wraps up implementation of its Centers for Excellence and Expertise, the next focus for the agency will be on exports, said Acting Commissioner Tom Winkowski in a speech at the Northeast Cargo Symposium on Nov. 7. "The area of exports represents a huge opportunity," said Winkowski at the Coalition of New England Companies for Trade (CONECT) event. "If we're going to be competitive in the world market, we have to reduce costs in how we do business day in and day out," he said. That means ensuring compliance not only with U.S. export requirements, but also with the regulatory system in the importing country so that goods aren't held up at the port overseas.
CBP is up to 1,626 total Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) validations, including 432 initial validations and 1,194 revalidations, the agency said in an update on C-TPAT achievements. CBP has said it plans to get through 2,200 validations this year (see 13060627). There has also been a total of 1,719 suspensions and 1,261 C-TPAT removals.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Oct. 28-Nov. 1 in case they were missed.