Trade professionals and a trade scholar, talking on a panel that compared the Trump and Biden administrations' trade policies, said that not as much has changed on trade as might have been expected. Christine McDaniel, an economist at George Mason University, said she doesn't expect any of the Section 301 tariffs or the steel and aluminum tariffs to be lifted before the end of 2021. "I haven’t seen any indication they’re going to pull back on the tariffs," she said during a seminar at the Virginia Small Business Development Center on Sept. 21. "I’ve heard people say that the Trump trade policy is just being continued by the Biden administration, minus the rhetoric. You can make the argument for that."
T-Mobile and Dish Network executives clashed at a California Public Utilities Commission hearing Monday (see 2109200065) on how long T-Mobile agreed to keep its CDMA network, in the Boost Mobile divestiture agreement brokered with DOJ. The partly virtual hearing on the CPUC’s August order saying the carrier may have misled the agency (see 2108160021) started at 10 a.m. PDT and went overtime, with the lights at the state commission’s headquarters automatically turning off before it ended after 6 p.m. PDT.
T-Mobile and Dish Network executives clashed at a California Public Utilities Commission hearing Monday (see 2109200065) on how long T-Mobile agreed to keep its CDMA network, in the Boost Mobile divestiture agreement brokered with DOJ. The partly virtual hearing on the CPUC’s August order saying the carrier may have misled the agency (see 2108160021) started at 10 a.m. PDT and went overtime, with the lights at the state commission’s headquarters automatically turning off before it ended after 6 p.m. PDT.
Customs brokers in Washington to lobby for the Customs Business Fairness Act renewal should also talk about the importance of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2021, National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America transportation committee members told the annual government affairs conference attendees, as a way to fight excessive detention and demurrage fees.
Customs brokers in Washington to lobby for the Customs Business Fairness Act renewal should also talk about the importance of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2021, National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America transportation committee members told the annual government affairs conference attendees, as a way to fight excessive detention and demurrage fees.
Importers should be reviewing existing tariff classifications for their products and planning ahead for major changes to the tariff schedule that will take effect Jan. 1 when the U.S. implements 2022 changes to the global Harmonized System, Flexport’s Adam Dambrov said during a Sept. 15 webinar. Particularly affected by the changes are goods of chapters 44, 84 and 85, with some changes to chapter notes also resulting in changes for textiles and apparel.
The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated Sept. 14 with the following headquarters rulings (ruling revocations and modifications will be detailed elsewhere in a separate article as they are announced in the Customs Bulletin):
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from Sept. 7-10 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
CBP cut back its planned continuing education requirements to 36 hours every three years after previously suggesting 40 hours over the same period (see 2010270038), it said in notice. "Requiring more than 36 hours of continuing broker education per triennial period could be burdensome for the customs broker community (especially individual brokers operating as or working for small businesses) and a lower requirement would be insufficient to ensure that individual brokers keep abreast of changes in customs and related laws," it said. An agency official said in May that the change was likely (see 2105040004).
Industry backed an Alarm Industry Communications Committee request to delay AT&T's Feb. 22 3G data termination sunset, in comments posted Tuesday in FCC docket 21-304 (see 2108200021). AICC "clearly demonstrated the harmful impact" of the planned sunset, said the Alliance for Automotive Innovation. The auto industry "has been constrained in its ability to address or mitigate the impact of the 3G sunset," the group said, adding that it supported AICC's proposed Dec. 31, 2022, deadline. The Alcohol Monitoring Systems and AARP backed a 10-month extension. A "global semiconductor chip shortage" has affected the electronic monitoring industry's 4G transition, AMS said. AARP cited "clear linkages" between the COVID-19 pandemic and "the ability of AICC members to successfully complete the 3G transition." An "abrupt, premature, or disorganized shut-down of this key element of wireless connectivity threatens millions of people that rely on 3G," said Public Knowledge, Access Humboldt, the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, Center for Rural Strategies and New America's Open Technology Institute. The FCC is "well-positioned to serve as an honest broker that can collect and protect information necessary to make an objective evaluation of the obstacles facing the transition," they said. AT&T disagreed, saying alarm companies are "fully capable of replacing 3G radios" used by customers. The chip shortage "has not kept the major alarm companies from ... winning and activating new customers," it said. A delay would "undercut AT&T’s 5G rollout and overall network performance," it said. AT&T will respond to others' comments in replies due Sept. 14, said a spokesperson.