The U.S. this week warned ship owners and service providers of new “deceptive practices” being used by Russia to evade the oil price cap, particularly for oil exported through the Eastern Siberia Pacific Ocean (ESPO) pipeline and ports on the eastern coast of Russia. Shippers, traders and others should watch for several red flags to avoid helping Russia evade the cap, the Office of Foreign Assets Control said in an April 17 alert.
CBP is aware that some customs brokers may need additional time to report their employees in the Modernized ACE Portal by the April 14 deadline due to technical issues, the agency said in a CSMS message. Some brokers have “encountered ACE technical issues tied to increased volume of employee reporting,” including “the inability to edit individual employee's information due to an 'invalid page' error and bulk uploads not returning successes even when the data elements are all correct,” CBP said.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
CBP sent a reminder to customs brokers that the deadline for brokers to satisfy employee reporting requirements in the ACE Portal is April 14. According to the CSMS message, if a broker needs an extension, they should email the Broker Management Branch at brokermanagement@cbp.dhs.gov before April 14 to request more time. "Such requests should explain the broker's situation and how much additional time is needed," CBP said.
CBP released a new “slick sheet” April 10 with guidance for customs brokers on what to do when faced with cybersecurity incidents. “The new resource makes recommendations on how to prevent, respond to, and recover from potential cyber-attacks on customs broker data systems, from proactively putting in place plans and preventative IT controls to resuming normal business operations upon system remediation,” CBP said in a news release.
CBP will not be granting any additional extensions for new aluminum entry summary filing requirements related to Section 232 tariffs on Russia, a CBP official confirmed during a webinar hosted by the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America on April 6.
The Congressional Research Service described how the Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis system and the newer Aluminum Import Monitoring system have functioned in recent years. The report, published last week, noted that SIMA was updated in 2020 so that importers have to disclose where a semi-finished product or a finished steel product was melted and poured.
A proposal to amend the Seafood Import Monitoring Regulations to require the importer of record to hold the International Fisheries Trade Permit and require foreign importers of record to appoint a U.S. resident agent to hold the IFTP would upend "longstanding commercial practices" with "no measurable improvement in SIMP supply chain tracking," the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America said in comments to the National Marine Fisheries Service dated March 17.
The Internal Revenue Service on March 27 released new proposed regulations to “provide guidance” on superfund excise taxes on imported chemicals and substances that took effect July 1 of last year. Comments are due May 30.
A San Diego broker-forwarder will pay $1 million in back wages and a $26,215 penalty for “egregious” violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act under a settlement reached with the Department of Labor to resolve allegations that it was illegally paying workers directly in Mexican pesos, DOL said in a March 20 news release.