Port Congestion
While we are not seeing the congestion issues we saw during Summer of 2022, we are noticing some delays in container arrival into ports. Further, steamship lines have severely shortened free time and increased fees all across the board for detention and per diem on containers.
USDA, APHIS and AMS
USDA has marked many items subject to APHIS Animal Plant Health Inspection Service and AMS Agriculture Marketing Service. The former requires information on a whole host of products including food and wooden articles. The latter affects certain agriculture items and anything that is stated as organic. Organic products must have documentation proving it's organic status. This is done in the form of certificates issued by independent agencies. With all products you should check with your broker to ascertain the feasibility of importing these products prior to ordering or shipping.
Covid-19
To those importers impacted by the Covid-19 virus and subsequent shutdowns, we remain committed to staying open during the outbreak. If your current broker's operations are impacted because they operate in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles or any other U.S. city please contact us to see if we can help you with your importing needs.
NAFTA
NAFTA has been renegotiated. This may affect duties from Mexico and Canada. Please check with our office if you are considering importing from Canada or Mexico.
Escalting Tariffs
There have been recent changes involving steel and aluminum articles worldwide resulting in additional tariffs of 10% for aluminum and 25% for steel.
Further, there has been an escalating trade war with China that to date consists of three phases. Phase one and phase two are already in affect at 25%. Phase three is effective 9/24/18 at 10% until years end when it will increase to 25% as well. More phases may be coming soon.
Please note that these tariffs are based on the origin of the product and not from where you ship. So for example if you ship a covered product from Singapore to Los Angeles/Long Beach, San Francisco or Chicago but the product is made in China, you are subject to the higher duty.
Please contact us at our offices in Los Angeles, California or Chicago, Illinois at (562) 805-0129 to get the latest tariff information available if you are considering importing steel or aluminum items or any Chinese articles.
Importer Security Filing 10+2
10+2 is a new requirement for all importers of ocean cargo. This represents an enormous change in importing. For the first time, a pre-laden entry will have to be submitted to CBP at least 24 hours prior to the loading of cargo on a U.S. bound vessel. his entry will require the filers to have advance copies of invoices, bill of lading number, the stower and the stuffer of the container.
Provided the importer already has a continuous bond, we at Henry E. Kloch & Company are setup and ready to file Importer Security Filings as early as our importers require. Please have your supplier fill out the following worksheet and send it to us along with a copy of the commercial invoice prior to each export. We need at least 72 hours advance of sailing plus weekends and holidays to ensure timely filing.
PierPass Program
The stated purpose of the PierPass program is to alleviate congestion at the port of Los Angeles/Long Beach. Effective July 25th, 2005, the port of LA/LB will now require all containers exiting or entering the port be subject to a peak time surcharge of $50 for a twenty foot container and $100 for forty foot and all others. Peak time is defined as Monday through Friday 3 am to 6pm.
This charge is the responsibility of the importer (or exporter in case of export) and must be paid prior to pickup of the container at the terminal. Your trucker may or may not advance this as a courtesy to you. If not, it will be your responsibility to arrange payment for each container effected through www.pierpass.org. Once you establish your account, you must pay for the surcharge using a credit card.
CBP Agriculture New Solid Wood Packaging Requirements
CBP Agriculture will now be requiring certification of fumigation of all solid wood packaging material which includes crates and pallets. Effective September 15, 2005, CBP Agriculture will now require all pallets and other solid wood packing material to be fumigated and marked as such. You can read more about these regulations here. Failure to comply could result in penalties equaling the value of the importation.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
The U.S. FDA has increased inspections of certain farm raised seafood products from China. Should you import these products, the FDA will likely either physically sample the items or require you to provide private lab analysis by an FDA approved laboratory at your expense. Click here for more info.
