NCBFAA Encourages Brokers to Email Representatives About Bankruptcy Bill
The Customs Business Fairness Act, a bill that changes the treatment of customs brokers when their customers go into bankruptcy, has not gotten enough support, said Jon Kent, who lobbies on behalf of the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America, during a June 13 webinar.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
Currently, businesses that declare bankruptcy frequently have an unwinding of payments that occurred in the last 90 days before the company entered into bankruptcy protection. The payments can be restored if the creditor -- in this case, brokers -- argues that the payments were made in the ordinary course of business. The payments that are reversed cover not just the fees to the customs broker, but also the money that was passed through to CBP to pay duties.
The act, H.R. 2261, was introduced April 10, and has nine co-sponsors (see 1904110063), only three more than when it was introduced. This bill was also introduced in 2017 and 2009. "The trick we have is to get enough support for the bill that we attract attention, and give the impression there’s a broad amount of support for it throughout Congress," Kent said. "If we don’t get support across the country, this bill will simply die as it has in years past."
Laurie Arnold, legislative committee chair for NCBFAA, said that one letter from the group is not enough to get a lawmaker's office to sign on to sponsor. "We need to bombard these offices and tell them it is an important issue for us," she said on a call with members June 13. "One letter isn’t going to do it."