Your Broker Knows Blog

Section 301 of the Trade Act has been the topic of many discussions in international trade over the past few years. It can have a large impact on importers into the US, causing questions and concerns. To address some of these questions, we offer you the following details on Section 301, including a historical look at it and our recommendations for you moving forward.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) requires importers to report specific information on the Lacey Act Declaration Form. This information is in addition to the US Customs reporting requirements.

The Softwood Lumber Board announced on February 25th that the softwood lumber assessment fee and calculation thereof, is set to change on April 1st, 2021 on all softwood lumber imports into the US from abroad.

On-demand courses offer the same valuable content as our in-class seminars, but instead of a lecture-style presentation, we've sat our experts in global trade down for a Q&A-style interview. We have broken each topic down into bite-size modules. Imagine a Netflix series, and your new favorite show is How To Import Into Canada (sounds exciting!). Within these 1-2 hour online courses - aka seasons - there are about 8 modules - aka episodes - of varying duration. You can play, pause, skip, rewind, fast forward, or even re-watch any module you'd like. With unlimited access, you can binge them all at once or tune in one by one at your own pace. You hold the remote control.‍

APHIS CORE is scheduled to transition to the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) electronic reporting system on January 25, 2021. This means it will be mandatory to report APHIS information electronically for those commodities covered under APHIS Core.

What many US importers don’t know is that these goods can only remain at this warehouse for a maximum of 15 days, after which they will be removed and brought to a Customs General Order warehouse. This is a costly expense that can be avoided with these 3 tips.

One of the most common areas of delay affects the ocean and air shipments, which unfortunately have the highest storage costs. To ensure you avoid delay and the subsequent extra charges at ocean terminals and airports, follow our three ocean and air arrival tips.

In the 1940s the U.S. started to incorporate the idea of an “escape clause” for U.S. industries as the government expanded our trade relations. Section 201 is a direct descendant of that notion and tactic.

With the closure of land borders to nonessential traffic, you can no longer drive down to your seasonal rentals or properties. Instead, you may fly there. So what is a traveler to do with their Canadian vehicle?

There are several changes that affect everyone involved in the import and export of goods to and from the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Being mindful of these distinctions will prevent errors that could cost you later.