On Monday, March 29, 2021, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai announced that the USTR would Suspend Trade Engagement with Burma following Military Coup and Violence against Civilians. In the message, the USTR said the suspension of all U.S. engagement with Burma under the 2013 Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) will remain in effect until a return of a democratically elected government.
News
On Monday, March 29, 2021, upon request from the Department of Commerce (DOC), U.S. Customs and Border Protection issued CSMS Message #46800973 delaying the effective date of the Aluminum Import (AIM) license requirement until June 28, 2021.
Inchcape Shipping Services has announced that the container ship blocking the Suez Canal has been refloated as of early this morning, Monday, March 29. The good news has also been confirmed by Osama Rabie, head of the Suez Canal Authority, according to his statement with state TV, published by CNN.
As is widely reported in the Global media, the very large container ship “Ever Given“ was grounded during transit in the Suez Canal on Tuesday, March 23, completely blocking the canal for the passage of other vessels.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) continues to be actively engaged in enforcement of importer compliance with all applicable import rules and regulations.
Please be advised that several carriers have announced significant increases to their FAK levels from North Europe to the USA. These changes will affect current tariff rates. Impact on contract rates is not clear, and would likely not be as severe, but the market will definitely support some increases.
On Wednesday, March 10, 2021, the United States Trade Representative Office (USTR) announced in Federal Register Notice 86 No 45 FR 13785 that the Section 301 exclusions for Covid-19 related medical supplies, originally scheduled to expire on March 31, 2021, would be extended through September 30, 2021.
In joint statements on March 4 and March 5, 2021, the United States, United Kingdom, and European Union all agreed to a four-month mutual suspension of tariffs related to the World Trade Organization (WTO) aircraft dispute. The suspension will cover all tariffs both on aircraft as well as non-aircraft products.
Source: National Retail Federation Press Release – March 8, 2021
Imports at the nation’s largest retail container ports are expected to grow dramatically during the first half of 2021 as increased vaccination and continued in-store safety measures enable additional shopping options, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released today by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.
The erosion of ocean carrier schedule reliability is one of the glaring by-products of the pandemic induced port congestion. In January, global container vessel schedule reliability fell to 34.9%, the lowest ever recorded, and down 33.5% year over year. The transpacific trade from Asia to the U.S. was substantially affected in January, with reliability sinking to 13.8% to the West Coast (second lowest on record), and 21.5% to the East Coast – also a record.
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