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With the support of the Executive Directors of The Port of Los Angeles (“Port of L.A.”) and the Port of Long Beach, and the President of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, President Biden announced on Wednesday October 13, 2021, after week of negotiations, that the Port of L.A. has agreed to begin operating 24/7. The Port of L.A. will join the Port of Long Beach, which has been running 24/7 for the past several weeks. Together, 40% of the containers imported to the United States go through these two ports.…
Continue Reading Biden Administration Comes to Agreement with Private Companies and Unions to Begin Operating the Port of Los Angeles 24/7

On October 4, 2021, Ambassador Katherine Tai, the United States Trade Representative, addressed the state of U.S.- China trade relations and the upcoming plans for the Biden Administration to improve foreign trade policy. Since taking office in January, the Administration has spent time reviewing the trade policies put in place under the Trump Administration.  There has been little movement until now as to the stance the Biden Administration would take, which created uncertainty regarding U.S. trade policy with China. Speculation grew as many questioned what would happen with the tariffs imposed on Chinese imports (under Section 301), how the administration would address the shortcomings of the “Phase 1” deal, and whether the product exclusion process would be re-instated.
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Continue Reading Biden Administration Shows Signs of Addressing China Trade Wars

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has finalized a rule intending to reduce the production and consumption of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) in the United States by enforcing a cap and…
Continue Reading EPA Issues Final Rule to Phase Down HFCs as White House Announces Measures to Prevent Illegal Imports

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Don’t Forget the Chassis in the Chase for the Cure.

A new level of frustration has arisen from the ocean shipper ranks during this “post-COVID” period. Shipments from Asia to the U.S. are experiencing extreme difficulties in getting their cargo delivered, mainly due to the acute shortage of chassis to effect delivery of their containers on the U.S. side. The painful example of this is the BNSF current experience with Lot W. Aside from the impact to the importer in not being able to access its cargo and experiencing serious damage to its business, it is also likely to face serious demurrage charges from the ocean carrier. This is on top of having just experienced a quadrupling (or more) of the base FAK per container rates, and the ocean carrier choices to leave agricultural commodities sitting at West Coast U.S. ports, favoring the shipment of empty containers opting to position equipment for the lucrative Asia to U.S. trade.

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Continue Reading The Dynamic of the Chassis Quandary Today in Ocean Shipping in the United States

The United States and European Union (“EU”) announced a “cooperative framework” to address and potentially resolve their long-running dispute over large civil aircraft subsidies, also commonly known as…
Continue Reading US-EU Suspend Large Civil Aircraft Tariffs and Take Aim at China in Framework Addressing Non-Market Practices

President Biden issued Executive Order (“EO”) 14017 titled “America’s Supply Chains” on February 24, 2021, ordering 100-day and 1-year reviews of certain critical supply chains.  On June 8, 2021, a…
Continue Reading White House Issues Final Report on Supply Chain Risks and Considers Section 232 Investigation into Imports of Neodymium Magnets

On April 21, 2021, the American Honey Producers Association and Sioux Honey Association (“Petitioners”), filed a petition for the imposition of antidumping duties on imports of raw honey from Argentina, Brazil, India, Ukraine, and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.…
Continue Reading Petition Summary: Raw Honey from Argentina, Brazil, India, Ukraine, and The Socialist Republic of Vietnam

The Department of Defense (“DoD”) requested industry comments by April 28, 2021 to assist with the DoD’s forthcoming report identifying risks and policy recommendations regarding the supply chain for strategic…
Continue Reading DoD Requests Comments on Supply Chain Risks for Strategic and Critical Materials

On March 29th, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (“USTR”) announced the suspension of all U.S. engagements with Burma (Myanmar) under the 2013 Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (“TIFA”), effective immediately.  Pursuant to this announcement, the United States will be suspending all government-to-government meetings following the military coup that occurred in February and the related escalation in violence by Burma’s military against its people. …
Continue Reading USTR Suspends Trade Engagement with Burma