Category: International Trade

International Trade, MSK Blog

Make Your Hanjin Bankruptcy Claims Now!

By Susan Kohn Ross

There is a lot of press coverage about the Hanjin bankruptcy, but very little of it provides tangible facts for traders to rely on.  One thing we know for sure is Hanjin filed a Chapter 15 bankruptcy in the U.S. What that means is the U.S. bankruptcy court will defer to the Korean bankruptcy court regarding how the case will proceed. The U.S. court will limit its orders to cargo in the U.S. or touching the U.S. Most importantly right now, if you think you have a claim against Hanjin, you need to file that claim in the Korean bankruptcy proceeding, and you must do that between October 11 and 25, 2016. If you miss that claim deadline, you will be out of luck.  There are a handful of Korean lawyers representing the interests of cargo owners and other potential claimants in Korea and they should be contacted immediately. Referrals are available.

Beside this one fact, there are a lot of pending questions. The Federal Maritime Commission is accepting consumer claims, but can only facilitate a discussion, as it has little jurisdiction in this context. It does have the bully pulpit, but seems reluctant to use it. Continue reading “Make Your Hanjin Bankruptcy Claims Now!”

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International Business, International Trade

It’s All About Compliance

By Susan Kohn Ross

Part 1 – Value

This Alert is one in an occasional series of articles providing tips about various topics which arise routinely with import and export transactions. These tips are published with the intention to aid international traders in their ongoing efforts to get their declarations right the first time, and are based on situations we commonly see occurring. Whether it is reasonable care on the import side or not self-blinding on the export side, compliance is a key for many different reasons, including protecting your bottom line.

Given the ever increasing attention being paid by the U.S. government to compliance by companies of all sizes, and especially in light of the recent informed compliance letter sent out by CBP’s Regulatory Audit in Houston, TX, now is the time to review how to value goods correctly.

The same basic value code is used throughout the world, at least among all the World Customs Organization member countries, although most assess duty on the C.I.F. value of the imported goods, whereas the U.S. assesses duty on the F.O.B. cost of goods. While admittedly each country has its own interpretation and they vary a tad, the basics are: Continue reading “It’s All About Compliance”

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International Business, International Trade

Hanjin Shipping Sinks in Korea

By Susan Kohn Ross

With the bankruptcy filing of Hanjin Shipping having just occurred on the 31st, many of their shipping customers are only now beginning to feel the disruption to their supply chains and are trying to sort out how to get their goods moving. It would be reasonable to expect similar bankruptcy filings in some major countries such as the U.S. and at least one in Europe, but until that happens, here are some tips for getting your goods moving. Continue reading “Hanjin Shipping Sinks in Korea”

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International Business, International Trade

ACE Allows for Stricter Customs Enforcement

By Susan Kohn Ross

First published by Journal of Commerce, August 2016

In the face of its recent reorganization and enhanced computer system, it was really only a matter of time before the trade community started to see Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) better organize its enforcement efforts, and now the first tangible step has been publicly disclosed.

When the concept for the Centers for Excellence and Expertise was rolled out, it was logical to expect that CBP would combine the enhanced computer capabilities of the Automated Commercial Environment with information developed from the industry focused CEEs. That meant, we would eventually see CBP relying on computer analytics and internal expertise to help the agency pinpoint where to focus its enforcement efforts. Over the years, we had seen those with the most experience retire. CBP and Immigration and Customs Enforcement seemed to lose their ability to make serious fraud cases. Yes, criminal cases for trade fraud, involving for example for antidumping and export license violations, continued to be brought, but it has been a long time since we have heard about a really significant civil penalty. Sure, some smaller fish got caught, and many of them did some really dumb things. Others who got caught just plain cheated. Now, however, CBP has launched a round of “informed compliance” letters, which are really warning letters to the trade community. Continue reading “ACE Allows for Stricter Customs Enforcement”

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International Trade

TFTEA – Export Fee Refunds, Show Me The Money?

By Susan Kohn Ross

In an earlier alert, we discussed the various export incentives put into place with the passage of the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act (“TFTEA”). One long-standing benefit available to exporters is duty drawback, which enhances a company’s ability to compete in the global market.  Drawback lowers the cost of U.S. exports by allowing for refunds of duties, taxes and fees paid on imported merchandise which is subsequently exported in its same form, as part of a U.S. manufactured product or similar domestic merchandise which is substituted for the imported merchandise.  More details will become evident as the regulations are developed within two (2) years following enactment.  Here we discuss the key provisions in the TFTEA which impact drawback. Continue reading “TFTEA – Export Fee Refunds, Show Me The Money?”

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International Trade

Privacy Shield Takes More Hits

By Susan Kohn Ross

Just in the last week, both the European Parliament and the European Data Protection Supervisor (“EDPS”) published findings holding the currently proposed EU-US Privacy Shield to be seriously deficient, and calling for further negotiations to deal with those “holes”.

On May 26, 2016, the European Parliament passed a resolution, see EU Parliament Resolution, basically saying nice try, no cigar!  While acknowledging that great strides were made, the Parliament felt that too many gaps remained. Not surprising were the on-going concerns about the broad gathering of private data (i.e., bulk collection) by the U.S. government and what is viewed as the less than clearly defined circumstances in which that data may be used for recognized national security and law enforcement reasons, and what else? Continue reading “Privacy Shield Takes More Hits”

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International Trade

SOLAS: Saves Lives? Causes Ulcers?

By Susan Kohn Ross

On July 1, 2016, the Safety of Life at Sea (“SOLAS”) requirement for shippers to provide steamship lines with the verified gross mass (“VGM”) of each shipment takes effect internationally.

While under development at the International Maritime Organization for years, these requirements caught many in the U.S. by surprise last summer when the deadline was emphasized. Perhaps equally surprising was the response of the U.S. Coast Guard, the agency with enforcement jurisdiction. Coast Guard management has been publicly quoted as saying the SOLAS VGM requirements are not mandatory under U.S. law! Rather, they are simply one business means to achieve compliance.  U.S. terminals have been weighing export containers for OSHA compliance reasons for years, but the same is not true in other countries.  Continue reading “SOLAS: Saves Lives? Causes Ulcers?”

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International Trade, Labor & Employment

Everyone Deserves To Have Secrets – Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016

By Susan Kohn Ross

On May 11, 2016, President Obama signed into law the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 (DTSA) which brought with it a new era of accountability and expediency in protecting employers’ intellectual property. Whether proprietary lines of code in a software program, the secret recipe for fried chicken or highly-valued customer lists, “trade secrets” provide a competitive advantage for businesses. While the DTSA provides new avenues for employers to protect their trade secrets, it also imposes additional burdens, creating new whistleblower protections and imposing new notice requirements. Continue reading “Everyone Deserves To Have Secrets – Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016”

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International Business, International Trade

The Art of Self Defense

By Susan Kohn Ross

Corporate compliance programs come in all shapes and sizes and apply whether your company is privately owned or publicly traded. These internal controls take the form of accounting and audit procedures, import-export/regulatory policies, employment guidelines, ethics/anti-corruption initiatives and so on. The intent of any compliance program is to ensure that employees know what is expected of them and that their behavior complies with and is consistent with the “rules of the road” for your business or industry. Continue reading “The Art of Self Defense”

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International Business, International Trade

TFTEA – Export Focus

By Susan Kohn Ross

In earlier editions of our Alert, we first summarized the new law (see here), then addressed the intellectual property rights changes it contained (see here), and most recently covered the organizational structure (see here). Now, we turn to the export focused provisions in the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act (“TFTEA”). Mainly those export provisions have to do with information collection for targeting.  However, new initiatives for promoting U.S. exports are let out in detail in TFTEA. Continue reading “TFTEA – Export Focus”

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