International Trade Blog

In the first article of this series—How Section 301 Investigations and Tariffs Have Impacted Trade—I gave an introduction to Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, a trade law with a long history and one which has been used more frequently during the Trump administration. I traced the use of the law through the founding of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the historic Japanese semiconductor investigations in the mid 1980s.

Today I'll look at Special 301, which emerged in the late 1980s and 1990s to address trade barriers to U.S. companies due to the ineffective protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights.   

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May is World Trade Month in the United States, and to coordinate the plethora of events traditionally scheduled for that month, the World Trade Month Association's website, WorldTradeMonth.com, will once again serve as a directory of international trade-related events scheduled for May 2021 across the country.

The theme for this year's World Trade Month website is "Growing exports in uncertain times," a reflection of the challenges facing companies during a global pandemic, economic volatility and a new U.S. presidential administration.

Individuals may register for free on the website to receive notifications of World Trade Month events they may wish to attend. Organizations may submit the events they are planning to host during the month. There is no charge for the listings.

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For most human resources professionals, international trade and export compliance are not topics they expected to encounter during their day-to-day jobs. However, at many companies, the partnership between export compliance and HR is crucial. The following summarizes key intersections and how HR may serve a valuable and necessary role in ensuring export compliance company-wide.

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Looking to break into the world’s fastest-growing economy? Then look toward India. That’s right—within the next decade, India will outrank China as the most populous country in the world. So what does the growth of this nation mean for its economy and for exporters who may want to enter it?

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For those of us who have been in the international trade arena for a while, the subject of product classification has always been interesting and, often, quite confusing.

When I started in this business more than 20 years ago, there was no single system used to classify imports worldwide. The United States used the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the U.S. (HTSUS), Europe generally used the Brussels Tariff Nomenclature, and many other countries had their own unique systems.

Sound confusing? It was!

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Companies that ship domestically within the United States often use the trade term FOB—Free On Board. But FOB has a completely different meaning under the international trade terms, Incoterms 2020. Exporters who want to use the international equivalent to FOB often use the Incoterm FCA—Free Carrier At.

Like all 11 of the 2020 Incoterms rules, FCA identifies whether it is the seller or the buyer who pays the domestic, international and on-carriage freight charges. So, let’s compare the domestic use of FOB with the international use of FCA.

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Before you can ship dangerous goods by air, you need to properly complete the required transport documents: the air waybill and the Shipper’s Declaration for Dangerous Goods.

The main purpose of the Dangerous Goods Declaration (DGD) is for the shipper to provide critical information to the aircraft operator or carrier in a format that is consistent throughout the transportation industry. This standard is part of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Dangerous Goods Regulations (DGR).

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For exporters shipping their products internationally, a commercial invoice is one of the most important documents completed in the export journey. This legal document is required to accompany your exports for customs clearance, duties and taxes purposes.

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The past two years, importers and exporters have become increasingly familiar with Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974: the Trump administration has used it extensively to impose tariffs on approximately $370 billion in Chinese-origin goods. But you may be less familiar with how this versatile statute was used over the past 45 years to eliminate trade barriers with other countries and open markets to U.S. exports. 

This article looks at how the use of Section 301 has evolved since its inception and examines one of the more significant earlier investigations under the law. Look for future articles about how the law is being used in regards to China and on strategies companies should be using to monitor its use.    

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What do you do when you get news that makes you a little nervous? Most of us try to shy away from things we don’t want to be true. Unfortunately, just because we don’t want to deal with them doesn’t make them any less true!

Sometimes, our office gets calls from users who were surprised to discover that names they screened in our export compliance module came back as a match for restricted parties. Their question: What should I do now?!

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