Congress Appropriates Funding for Section 301 and Section 232 Exclusion Process:
Exclusion Process for Section 301 List 3 products Mandated
As the March 2 deadline for a potential increase in the List 3 tariffs approach, the recently passed appropriations bill provides for some possible relief to those currently dealing with the 10% tariffs.
Under the bill, Congress has mandated the USTR’s office to implement an exclusion process for products covered by List 3. USTR Robert Lighthizer had previously indicated that no exclusion process would be allowed for products on List 3 unless the tariffs were raised to 25% on March 2.
However, now the USTR’s office is tasked with implementing an exclusion process within 30 days from the date of the bill’s enactment. This process should be similar to the ones currently in place for the List 1 and List 2 products. Additional funding has been provided to the USTR’s office. The process for granting exclusions for products on List 1 and List 2 has been lengthy.
In addition, the USTR must report to the Congressional committees no later than 30 days after enactment of the Act on the status of the exclusion process.
As talks between the U.S. and China continue this week, we can hope for another delay in a potential increase and look forward to an exclusion process for those currently importing products on List 3.
In addition, the bill also appropriates additional funding to the Bureau of Industry and Security specifically earmarked for an “effective Section 232 exclusion process.” The Department shall provide quarterly reports to the Committees, due not later than 15 days after the end of each quarter, on the implementation of the exclusion process, which shall include: (a) the number of exclusion requests received; (b) the number of exclusion requests approved and denied; (c) the status of efforts to assist small- and medium-sized businesses in navigating the exclusion process; (d) Department-wide staffing levels for the exclusion process, including information on any staff detailed to complete this task; and (e) Department-wide funding by source appropriation and object class for costs undertaken to process the exclusions.
As there does not appear to be any relief in sight for the Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum products, this is hopefully a positive step for companies looking for relief from these tariffs.
If you have questions, please contact your BOC Representative.
TRANSPACIFIC CUSTOMER ADVISORY
GENERAL NOTICE – USWC DELAYS
Dear Valued Customer,
Please be informed that due to various factors, below vessels suffer a delay:
- PEARL – CC A. LINCOLN: 7 days late at LAX
- PEARL – APL SENTOSA: 9 days late at LAX
- PEARL – CSCL SATURN: 5 days late at FUG
- BOHAI – COSCO PORTUGAL: 5 days late at TAO (due to phase out)
- BOHAI – COSCO YANTIAN: 8 days late at PRR
- BOHAI – CSCL SOUTH CHINA SEA: 7 days late at PRR
- HBB – ITAL CONTESSA: 7 days late at TYO (due to phase out)
- SCS – OOCL GENOA: 5 days late at KHH
- PSX – COSCO BELGIUM: 5 days late at LGB
- COLUMBUS JAX – CC TAGE: 5 days late at HKG
- CPNW CIMEX1 – APL SOUTHAMPTON: 5 days late at SIN
- CPNW CIMEX1 – CC PEGASUS: 15 days late at VAN
- CPNW CIMEX1 – CC LYRA: 15 days late at VAN
- CPNW CIMEX1 – CC TUTICORIN: 6 days late at SEA
- CPNW CIMEX1 – CC AQUILA: 5 days late at SEA
- TPX CIMEX7 – CSCL AUTUMN: 7 days late at PRR
- NWX – EVER SIGMA: 8 days late at VAN
- NWX – EVER STRONG: 6 days late at TIW
- NWX – EVER EAGLE: 7 days late at VAN
- NWX – EVER SUMMIT: 7 days late at VAN
Delays are due to bad weather crossing pacific and congestion in US/CA ports.
Actions have been taken in cooperation with the ports to improve significantly our transit time reliability.
Thank you for your continued support. For more information, please contact your local CMA CGM sales representative.
Sincerely,
Asia Regional Office – Transpacific Lines
CMA CGM Asia Pte Ltd
9 North Buona Vista Drive #13-01/04 The Metropolis (Tower 1) Singapore 138588
Tel: (65) 6714 2600 Fax: (65) 6714 2699
Business Registration / GST No. 201606722M
www.cma-cgm.com
China Airlines Pilot Strike Enters Fifth Day
by Jennifer Meszaros – February 12, 2019, 9:30 AM (Excerpted from www.ainonline.com)
Taiwanese flag carrier China Airlines remains locked in a bitter dispute with its pilots’ union after a second round of negotiations failed on Monday evening over a list of grievances varying from pilots’ working hours and year-end bonuses to transparency over promotions. Longstanding disagreements over poor management and work pressure combined with labor-law violations prompted China Airline pilots to call a strike on February 8 amid Asia’s Lunar New Year holiday.
Talks between the Taoyuan Union of Pilots, China Airlines management, and the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) resulted in a complete impasse Monday after the airline refused to meet the pilots’ demands over working hours. Union representatives want the airline to roster three pilots instead of the current two on flights lasting more than seven hours to counter fatigue and reduce flight risks. China Airlines rejected the union’s demands on the grounds that the extra manpower would result in a spike of annual operating costs.
China Airlines mainly serves regional routes to destinations in Northeast and Southeast Asia; some 40 percent of all flights last seven hours or more. On a seven-hour flight, the union said pilots actually work for at least nine hours and may get only five to six hours of rest time between flights. Following the first round of negotiations, the airline agreed to schedule three pilots on eight-hour flights, arguing its rostering policy aligned with global industry standards.
According to a China Airlines spokesperson, the strike between February 8 and February 11 resulted in a loss of $3.41 million in revenue after the cancellation of 80 flights. Although some 600 of the airline’s 1,300 pilots have participated in the strike, the Taiwanese flag carrier has managed to maintain 90 percent of its schedule.
While pilot working hours remains the key sticking point, the union has also called for China Airlines’ chairman Nuan-Hsuan Ho to step down from his position, which he has held since 2016. In a statement released on Friday, the union said the airline had violated the Labor Standards Act and the Occupational Safety and Health Act 33 times under Ho’s leadership. Additional demands include the dismissal of managers who have harmed employer-employee relations; greater transparency over recruitment, training programs and promotions; a year-end bonus comparable to that of Taiwan’s EVA Air; and protection of employees involved in union activities.
A China Airlines Boeing 777-300ER takes off from Taiwan’s Kaohsiung International Airport. (Flickr: Creative Commons (BY-ND) by Chung ChengYen)
We are pleased to announce that 1A Auto has named BOC as their choice for 2018 Supply Chain Provider of the Year(award letter below).
1A Auto, Inc. is a family-owned, online aftermarket auto parts retailer based in Westford, MA with other offices in Taiwan, Mexico, and Kansas. They have a comprehensive automotive video library with over 7,000 videos to empower their customers to make “do it yourself” repairs on the automobiles(www.1aauto.com).
We are grateful for 1A Auto’s partnership and look forward to growing our businesses together in the future. Thank you to all BOC customers for their efforts in working with us as one unit to build world-class supply chains. A wise football coach quoted below summarizes BOC’s core value of a one unit approach eloquently:
“There is an old saying about the strength of the wolf is the pack, and I think there is a lot of truth to that. On a football team, it’s not the strength of the individual players, but it is the strength of the UNIT and how they all function together.” Bill Belichick
West Coast Situation – Update 1
January 15, 2019
Dear Valued Customer,
As we continued to dig out from the unprecedented volumes discharged in US ports during the course of time prior to the Lunar New Year, we are experiencing heavy congestion, especially in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
Port Delays
Because of the congestion and extra vessels calling LAX/LGB, there have been overall labor shortages. The Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) has implemented work gang allocations. Vessels are waiting 2-3 shifts after arrival prior to receiving labor and what is allocated is based on ship size. This delays cargo availability, extends the vessels at berth and causes bunching of vessels as they are delayed leaving the area.
Chassis Shortages
The chassis pool of pools (PoP) has increased to 68,000 but chassis supply remains constrained due to the amount of imports and importers keeping containers and chassis in their yards longer than average.
Import Container Dwell Times
As noted, importers are holding containers longer than average. Average on the street dwell time has increased to 7 days. This is an increase of 3 days over normal periods.
Terminal Congestion
As terminals are trying to cope with these import flows having issues evacuating containers due to chassis issues, their congestion issues worsen as they start to face gridlock. Terminals are maxed out space-wise and the normal flow of appointments is being interrupted as they simply have too much in certain areas of their yards to be able to work. Some terminals are refusing to accept empties from carriers they try to dig out of the volumes they have on-dock.
Truck Power
Given the flow of cargo and the congestion, truckers are in high demand which leads to difficulties when allocating drivers, making it difficult to get containers out of terminals.
Rail
Railcar supply is also challenged, which forces terminals to change many destinations from on-dock to off- dock. This means that containers need to be trucked out of the port, putting more pressure on trucker and chassis supply.
All these factors contribute significantly to the challenges that we are experiencing in Los Angeles and Long Beach. We are asking and encouraging all our customers to pick up their containers as soon as possible, upon availability and return the chassis and empty container as quickly as possible. The more chassis we have in the pool to evacuate loads, enables us to begin to clear up this congestion and return to normal operating procedures.
As a reminder, for all containers that charges incurred due to containers staying in the port too long, or not being returned in a timely manner, will be for the account of the importer of record.
Source: www.cma-cgm.com CUSTOMER ADVISORY #12-011519 Update 1
Hapag-Lloyd Crew Evacuated from Fire-Stricken Yantian Express
Hapag-Lloyd has evacuated the crew of the containership Yantian Express after the fire aboard the vessel increased in intensity.
Namely, the shipping firm said that the ship’s crew of 8 officers and 15 seafarers “is unharmed and was safely transferred” to the salvage tug Smit Nicobar on January 5 and 6.
“Due to bad weather conditions, the fire has not been successfully contained yet and has significantly increased in intensity at times,” Hapag-Lloyd said, adding that firefighting support at the site is ongoing.
The fire broke out on January 3 in one container on Yantian Express’ deck and spread to additional containers.
“At this time, it is not possible to make a precise estimate of any damage to Yantian Express or its cargo,” the company continued.
The 7,510 TEU Yantian Express was on its way from Colombo to Halifax via the Suez Canal when the fire started. The ship is currently around 800 nautical miles off the coast of Canada, Nova Scotia.
MSC Zoe Loses Up to 270 Containers Overboard in North Sea
January 2, 2019 by Mike Schuler
The Dutch Coastguard has issued a navigational warning after an ultra-large containership lost scores of containers while underway in the North Sea.
The ship, MSC ZOE, was in German waters when it lost the containers in heavy seas between Vlieland, Netherlands and the German Bight in the southeastern North Sea on New Year’s Day.
The Coastguard initially reported about 30 containers lost. However, an update Wednesday morning said it now understands that a whopping 270 containers went overboard.
Photos released Wednesday by Germany’s Havariekommando shows toppled boxes both fore and aft of the ship’s superstructure:
| Photo: Havariekommando |
The Coastguard is warning ships in the vicinity keep an eye out for containers floating in the water.
At least 21 containers with loose goods have washed up on the Dutch islands of Vlieland, Terschelling and Ameland.
The MSC ZOE was underway from Antwerp, Belgium to Bremerhaven, Germany at the time of the incident.
Delivered in 2015, the 396-meter-long MSC Zoe ranks among the world’s largest containerships with a carrying capacity of 19,224 TEU.
The contents of all lost containers has not been confirmed, however at least three are reported to contain hazardous materials.
The Coastguard is warning the public not to handle or approach any of the containers.
| Photo: Havariekommando |
A Challenge to Shippers Who Would Never Dream of Controlling the Insurance
Shippers who rely on suppliers to furnish cargo insurance or who rely on their carriers to take responsibility for losses may be in for a big surprise. Protecting your investments by insuring your goods provides peace of mind.
Buying CIF: Who’s really responsible if your product is lost or damaged in transit? According to internationally accepted trade terms, referred to as Incoterms, suppliers selling “CIF” (Cost, Insurance, Freight) are responsible for arranging cargo insurance. But just because your supplier has the obligation to arrange insurance under CIF terms, it doesn’t mean that they are ultimately responsible if your product is lost or damaged during transit. The ultimate burden of loss falls upon you, the buyer. This is why many experts recommend importers change their buying terms to EXW, FOB, FCA, CFR or similar terms in order to control the selection, and thereby the quality, of insurance coverage.
How much is that insurance really costing you? Foreign suppliers and their forwarding agents often tack on placement fees to the insurance costs. Those added fees often inflate the cost of insurance well beyond market pricing for the same coverage purchased in the United States. Find out how much you’re really paying and then compare quotes received from BOC International.
Is the coverage your supplier purchased for you adequate? Importers relying on their suppliers to arrange insurance run the risk of having inadequate insurance coverage. Cargo insurance policies can vary widely in levels of coverage, deductibles and special restrictions. Ask your supplier for a complete copy of the insurance policy or for a certificate of insurance detailing all the policy terms and conditions
What’s the financial health of your supplier’s insurance company? Recent financial and catastrophic events have exposed the vulnerability of insurance companies to sudden economic devastation. Importers are encouraged to make certain their suppliers use insurers with a favorable financial rating supplied by a respected financial rating service. A.M. Best, Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s are among some of the world’s most respected. BOC’s insurance company, underwriters at Lloyd’s of London, has an A.M. Best financial rating of A (Excellent).
How will your claim be handled? If insurance is arranged overseas, will you be forced to deal with an inexperienced, sub-contracted independent adjuster unfamiliar with the assessment of transportation related losses? Ask your supplier for a list of insurance claims adjusters contracted by the insurance company. Adjuster and surveyor networks approved by Lloyd’s of London and AIMA are among the most credible. BOC has a vested interest in your insurance needs and will directly handle cargo claim documentation requirements to ensure prompt processing and timely settlement.
Every Shipper Needs Cargo Insurance
Global trading involves risk; however, broad insurance coverage minimizes your financial risk. Don’t leave your livelihood up to chance! Statistics show that one ship sinks each day and you will experience a General Average loss every eight years. If you are depending on the carrier to cover losses, their responsibility is limited by law as follows:
Ocean Carriers $500 per shipping unit
A shipping unit may be defined as one ocean container.
Air Carriers $9.07 per pound
Truckers $.50 per pound
The insurance we offer is competitively priced and insures approved merchandise against physical loss or damage from external causes. By purchasing cargo insurance, you can avoid inconvenience and frustration. Contact your BOC Representative at 617-345-0050 for your free quote.
