Canadian express courier Purolator has agreed to buy Livingston International, Purolator said in a Feb. 4 news release. The customs broker and freight forwarder “will now become a wholly owned subsidiary of Purolator led by its existing leadership team managing its day-to-day operations,” the release said. Purolator is itself majority owned by Canada Post, the primary postal operator in Canada. The terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.
Expect upheaval as companies that previously imported goods from China under the de minimis exemption face President Donald Trump's ban via executive order on using de minimis for those goods, members of the trade community told International Trade Today.
The government "mostly dodges" the arguments customs broker license exam taker Skeeter-Jo Stoute-Francois makes against four questions on the exam and "baselessly and repeatedly accuses" her of rewriting the challenged questions, counsel for Stoute-Francois argued in a reply brief at the Court of International Trade. The brief said the U.S. "advances a series of impermissible post hoc justifications, misconstrues the applicable standard of review, fails to address several of Plaintiff’s arguments, and improperly relies" on past CIT cases (Skeeter-Jo Stoute-Francois v. Janet Yellen, CIT # 24-00046).
After pulling back for the moment on threatened 25% tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports, China is the only country facing imminent tariffs over fentanyl smuggling. The 10% tariffs will be added to most favored nation duties or, for goods subject to Section 301 duties of either 25% or 7.5%, to those duties and the underlying MFN rates.
Countries where the U.S. has a significant trade deficit could be potential targets for future U.S. tariffs, according to panelists speaking during a Jan. 29 customs market update sponsored by Expeditors.
President Donald Trump told reporters that there are no concessions Mexico, Canada or China could make to avoid tariffs on Feb. 1, which he wants to use to punish them for trade deficits, fentanyl trafficking, and, in the case of Canada and Mexico, migration across their borders.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Jan. 20-26:
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
The following lawsuits were recently filed at the Court of International Trade:
Nebraska resident Byungmin Chae will appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit his second lawsuit challenging his results of the April 2018 customs broker license exam, he said in a notice of appeal. The Court of International Trade dismissed the suit after finding that it was precluded by Chae's first case challenging the test (see 2411130013). Chae is seeking credit for one question on the exam to cross the threshold of 75% correct in order to qualify as a customs broker (Byungmin Chae v. United States, CIT # 24-00086).