ILWU Canada and BCMEA Reach a Tentative Agreement to End Strike
Federal mediators in Canada presented terms to both the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada (ILWU Canada) and the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA). On Thursday, July 13, 2023, both sides tentatively agreed to the terms. This agreement is subject to ratification by both parties, but the agreement means the end of the strike currently. The affected ports are now working to resume operations. As operations get back to normal, shippers should expect backlogs that may take weeks for recovery.
66 Members of House of Representatives Send Support for GSP
On July 12, 2023, a bipartisan group of 66 members of the House of Representatives, made up of 34 republicans and 32 democrats sent a letter House Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) and Ranking Member Richard Neal (D-MA). Companies diversify supply chains by helping to provide supply chains alternatives from the reliance on China products. The announcement from the Coalition for GSP can be found at: https://renewgsptoday.com/2023/07/12/66-house-members-support-gsp-renewal-including-smart-changes-to-make-gsp-countries-more-viable-alternatives-to-china/
HTS Updated in July with Several Statistical Changes
The International Trade Commission ITC posted a large revision to the 2023 Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTSUS) with new statistical numbers for additional breakouts in several headings. The changes range from flowers to vegetables to chemicals and oils to several wearing apparel headings and subheadings. They include plastic pipe fittings, wheat gluten and others. They are effective now and these changes will affect many importer classification databases. Carmichael has developed a program to take an importer’s database and run it against the ITC HTS revisions for a full report of what may have been affected. This will help with a full review of your product line in your HTSUS database. Any of our customers that would like this report to be run for them need only to request their Carmichael contact to run the comparison and get the report.