Importers Scramble to Adjust to East Coast Port Strike
October 2, 2024 – A strike by dockworkers on the Gulf Coast began this week, stopping shipments at East Coast and Gulf Coast ports. There are reportedly no negotiations scheduled between the two sides.
Many affected ports have issued industry advisories about what shippers can expect this week, including the Port of New York & New Jersey, which announced that while all container and automobile related terminals, depots and rail yards are closed, warehouses and its auto processing center are open and operational.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection hosted a call yesterday advising the trade to continue monitoring the agency’s Cargo Systems Messaging Service (CSMS) webpage for communications regarding CBP operations. CBP has asked for all questions regarding the strike, especially unique cases, to be sent to tradeevents@cbp.dhs.gov.
Other Stories:
- The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published an NPRM last week that would prohibit the import of Chinese and Russian connected vehicles as well as component pieces of hardware and software used to produce connected vehicles.
- DHS added the first steel and aspartame companies to the UFLPA entity list today, bringing the total entities listed to 75.
- The COAC Drawback Working Group made a series of recommendations to CBP at the group’s last meeting that would provide better transparency as to which HTS codes identified as “Other” are eligible for drawback claims.
- AAEI and other trade organizations urged the Treasury Department against a move last week that would shift more Customs-related revenue responsibilities to CBP. Daniel Paisley from Treasury’s Tax, Trade, and Tariff Policy office will provide a follow-up on AAEI’s feedback over the proposed change.
- Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)’s office met with AAEI this week to hear the views of the trade community on his bill that would alter importers’ country of origin requirements.
- U.S. Trade Ambassador Katherine Tai posted her written responses last week to questions from the Senate Finance Committee on U.S. trade policy, and called for additional CBP funding to address Section 301 tariff circumvention.
