The reversal of an order banning Chinese products from de minimis startled importers and members of the Senate Finance Committee, who were puzzling about how long it would be until the policy flipped again, and why the Commerce Department, which has never had involvement in de minimis before, has been put in charge of deciding when to implement the order.
The abrupt change in how CBP will process low-value goods made in China because of President Donald Trump's executive order banning the de minimis exemption for these goods (see 2502030034) is causing some upheaval among shippers unfamiliar with the other types of customs processing, importers, brokers and logistics providers told International Trade Today.
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.
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.
Sen. Margo Juarez (D) wants to add “teeth” to Nebraska’s privacy law with a bill like California’s Delete Act that aims to make it easier for consumers to delete their data, she said in an interview Tuesday. However, at a livestreamed hearing of the bicameral legislature’s Commerce Committee Monday, counsel for Nebraska’s secretary of state raised concerns that the bill would be difficult to implement.
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.
Senate Banking Committee ranking member Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., urged the Commerce Department Feb. 3 to strengthen export controls following the recent “breakthrough development” of an advanced artificial intelligence model by Chinese startup DeepSeek.
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.