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The third round of tariffs has been put in place by the Administration and importers are scrambling to react. The third list is 10% through the end of the year and jumps to 25% on January 1st. While some products have escaped the potential wrath of being listed, Bloomberg had a story this week quoting sources that items like mobile phones, clothing and athletic shoes could be next as another escalation between the two countries. In the meanwhile, here's what the third list means for US importers.

MULTIPLE CHINA 301 IMPLICATIONS FOR IMPORTERS

Periodic Monthly Statement - Pay Customs directly, once monthly. Another effect of the increased duties for products from China and worldwide steel/aluminum tariffs is the need for larger amounts to be paid on a daily or weekly basis to satisfy the timely payment of Customs Duties.  As you know, it is the importers responsibility to have these duties paid within 10 days of the shipment being cleared.   Now, more than ever, customers need to find ways to improve their cash flow by moving to an Automated Clearing House (ACH) Periodic Monthly Statement account directly with CBP. Daily statements allow you to know your balances, but now you can simply make the duties available and CBP will withdraw them via ACH, once on the 15th working day of the month. This gives you at least 15 days of float and up to 40 days to pay your duties!   Why pay us every week, when you can pay CBP just once per month?  This is a win/win situation for importers who want to control their cashflow and minimize expenses. (Note that all service fees and freight charges are still payable within Coppersmith’s terms). If you're still not sure about it, watch this video featuring Coppersmith Global Logistics President Jeff Coppersmith to find out what it's all about. APPLY FOR PERIODIC MONTHLY STATEMENT TODAY

Bond sufficiency becoming a major issue for importers - address it *now*. Based on the additional tariffs being imposed on many items from China, many importers are finding that their minimum $50,000 Customs Bonds are no longer sufficient to cover their imports.  Every importer is required to carry an import Customs Bond that is more than 10% of the value of your import duties for one year.   With duties on steel/aluminum of 10% worldwide and 25%+ on Chinese products, these duties have increase exponentially and therefore the government is quickly noticing that traditional bonds are insufficient, and issuing increase notices.   Do not ignore these notices! Importers are encouraged to start reviewing their product’s duties now and estimating what their duty liablity will be for the next 12 months.  By using these estimates you can start applying for a replacement bond that will assure you are covered when the government comes asking for a larger bond.  Coppersmith can help you determine what bond amount would be necessary based on your duty exposure and work with the surety to obtain the renewal in a timely fashion.  Please contact us before the government contacts you! IS MY CONTINUOUS BOND SUFFICIENT?

There are changes coming to PierPass in Los Angeles and Long Beach beginning November 19th. The biggest change is a single, appointment-based system using a single flat fee for both daytime and nighttime moves. The TMF charged to peak cargo moves will be replaced by a lower, across-the-board fee. PIERPASS CHANGE DETAILS

Coppersmith recently attended the IPATA annual conference in Melbourne, Australia. More than 200 attendees from around the world came together to discuss the best business practices for the global shipping of pets. Topics included safe and secure pet handling on aircraft and changes to airline acceptance policies. MORE ABOUT IPATA

A bill was signed into law in California which would obligate shippers for outstanding debts or liabilities that trucking companies owe to drivers. The offending companies will be listed on a website maintained by the state. The industry is still digesting the implications of this new rule, but the language of SB-1402 can be found here .

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), in response to the imposition of additional tariff requirements by countries like China, is offering relief to farmers at varying levels depending upon the crop in question. The list can be found on the USDA's website and is broken down by amounts available per crop.

A number of Coppersmith team members attended WESCCON, an industry conference on the West Coast. We heard stern warnings from CBP about investigations that will commence for importers who attempt to change HTS numbers to avoid 301 duties from countries like China. While no importer wants to absorb additional supply chain costs, the price of an investigation for fraud would be far worse.

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