At the southern border, not every document can be processed electronically yet, but they're working on it, the CBP Laredo Field Office told traders on a conference call May 1. Documents including meat certificates, phytosanitary certificates, bovine paperwork, and CITES certificates are still needed in paper form. Assistant Director of Field Operations Armando Taboada asked those listening to make sure the drivers and runners coming to the Texas port wear masks. “I know Gov. [Greg] Abbott relaxed a little bit of the requirements,” he said, but added, “It’s for our own health and safety, for all of us.” He said most drivers are wearing masks, but there are a few stragglers.
A former White House economic adviser said he's “very worried” about the possibility of an executive order that would expand Buy American rules to pharmaceutical purchases by the Veterans Administration or other government agencies. Currently, there is a waiver for federal procurement if supply is not available or if it would be much more expensive; in order for this to drive pharmaceutical production or medical device production to the U.S., that loophole would have to be closed.
Increased CBP scrutiny on valuation, changes in tariff classification, and country of origin for products targeted in the U.S.-China trade war means companies need to be extra careful when doing tariff engineering or shifts in assembly locations, Sandler Travis lawyer Paula Connelly said, speaking on an April 28 webinar offered by the Coalition of New England Companies for Trade. Most of her presentation focused on establishing country of origin.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative says that Amazon's foreign websites are “Notorious Markets,” the government's term for sites that “reportedly engage in or facilitate substantial piracy or counterfeiting.” USTR says its goal in naming and shaming through the Notorious Markets List “is to motivate appropriate action by the private sector and governments to reduce piracy and counterfeiting.” Specificially, the agency mentioned Amazon's websites in Canada, the United Kingdom, India, Germany, and France.
Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Ill., said that many of his colleagues think “that we can pull back and do everything ourselves,” and that he thinks they may look at the shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic response as evidence that reshoring is the way to go. “You will see more capacity building in the United States, and that makes sense; the idea we can do it all ourselves is pure folly.” Schneider, who was speaking on a webinar hosted by the Washington International Trade Association on April 28, also thinks there needs to be redundancy in supply chains, and more warehousing and less “just-in-time” delivery.
Brazilian and U.S. business organizations are asking their two countries to reach a trade deal in 2020, “with priority on modernizing trade and customs, establishing good regulatory practices, creating rules for digital trade, and combating corruption,” they said in a letter sent last week and released to the public on April 27. “These trade disciplines can be achieved without requiring either U.S. legislation or Mercosur’s involvement, and they would substantially reduce unnecessary costs and enhance bilateral trade and investment,” they said. Brazil is in a customs union known as Mercosur, or South American Common Market, and thus cannot lower its tariffs without other countries' consent.
Eight House Republicans have joined to introduce a bill that would require the U.S. trade representative to submit a report to Congress on how World Trade Organization agreements will be fully implemented. In a press release announcing the bill's introduction on April 24, Rep. Ted Yoho, R-Fla., said: “For too long the United States, and the world, has turned a blind eye to much of China’s unfair practices in business and trade, and it has been the American producer and consumer who has paid the price. It’s time the United States and the global community assert their rights under WTO rules to hold China accountable for its behavior on the world stage and ensure a level playing field for all.” He said his bill would prevent China and other high-income nations from receiving special and differential treatment as developing nations. However, under current WTO rules, countries must willingly give up developing nation status; there is no way to force them to leave that status.
Although the auto industry appears to have lost the fight to delay a switchover from NAFTA to the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, an executive at the organization that represents parts suppliers said they now hope that with give-and-take on the implementing rules and perhaps some flexibility, the industry will be able to make a July 1 entry into force date work.
Aluminum producers are telling the Commerce Department that imports are rising, not falling, as the scope of Section 232 exclusions is so large, it dwarfs traditional import volumes. They said this trend “is a threat to U.S. aluminum producers.” In a letter sent April 22, The Aluminum Association said that during the first few months of 2020, the Commerce Department granted exclusions for aluminum can sheet that is more “than the entire U.S. market consumes in a year and dwarfs historical import trends for that segment.”
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer notified Congress April 24 that the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement will enter into force on July 1, 2020. Following that notification to Congress, the U.S. certified to Mexico and Canada that it's ready for the NAFTA replacement to take effect.