 In The Press |
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| NY-NJ terminals plan March 17 holiday hours |
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March 12, 2008 By The JOURNAL of COMMERCE ONLINE The six container terminals in the Port of New York and New Jersey will maintain holiday schedules March 17. Then terminals will observe curtailed hours on the birthday of former International Longshoremen’s Association President Teddy Gleason, which the union celebrates on St. Patrick’s Day. In addition, all six terminals will be closed on Good Friday, March 21. The terminals will be open on March 17 with the exception of the Red Hook terminal in Brooklyn, which will be closed. Bill Cronin, manager of shipper sales for the Port Authority of New York-New Jersey said the terminals have provided the following information on their hours on March 17: -- Global Terminal in Jersey City will be open for the receipt and delivery of full containers from 7 a.m.-4 p.m. Gates will close at 4 p.m., but the terminal will finish any trucks remaining in the queue and terminal. -- Maher Terminal gates will be open from 7 a.m.-4 p.m. Columbia Coastal’s Roanoke-Doremus facility will be open from 7 a.m.-4 p.m., but all other Columbia Container Service facilities will be closed Monday. -- New York Container Terminal’s gates will be open from 7 a.m.-4 p.m., however there will be no AQI (agriculture quarantine and inspection), and the warehouse will be closed. -- Port Newark Container Terminal will be open from 7 a.m.-4 p.m. Refrigerated containers will be serviced from 7 a.m.-2 p.m. The following client lines will be serviced at PNCT: CMA CGM, China Shipping Container Lines, APL, MOL, Hyundai Merchant Marine, ACL and Hapag-Lloyd. Cronin said any changes in the status of the terminals’ hours will be posted on their Web sites. |
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| China Wooden Bedroom Furniture:163 Entities Could Receive Higher China-Wide AD Rate |
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| According to an International Trade Administration notice initiating an antidumping duty administrative review of wooden bedroom furniture from China (A-570-890), the 228 entities that are subject to this review for the period January 1, 2007 – December 31, 2007 are required to submit either a separate rate status certification, or a separate rate status application, by the upcoming deadlines of April 6, 2008 or May 6, 2008, respectively (see below for list of 228 entities). 163 Entities Must Submit Certification by April 6 or Could Lose Separate Rate Status According to the ITA, 163 entities that were assigned a separate (lower) rate in the most recent segment of this AD proceeding in which they participated must submit a separate rate status certification no later than April 6, 2008, or effective at the final results of this administrative review, could lose their separate rate status and instead receive the China-wide entity rate (currently set at 216.01%). 65 Entities Must Submit Application by May 6 or Could Lose Chance for Separate Rate Status Additionally, 65 entities that have not previously been assigned a separate rate (and are therefore subject to the China-wide rate) must submit a separate rate status application no later than May 6, 2008, or they could lose their chance to obtain a separate (lower) rate effective at the final results of this administrative review. Comments on CBP Data, Respondent Selection Due March 14th For this administrative review, the ITA intends to select respondents based on U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data for U.S. imports during the review period, therefore, no quantity and value questionnaires will be issued. The ITA invites comments regarding the CBP data and the selection of respondents within seven days of March 7, 2008. Notices of No Sales During the Review Period Due April 7th The companies for which the ITA is initiating this review should notify the ITA by April 7, 2008 if they had no shipments, entries or sales of the merchandise under consideration during the review period. ITA initiation notice (FR Pub 03/07/08) available at http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20081800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/pdf/E8-4548.pdf |
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| U.S. to conduct import safety checks at ports |
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March 6, 2008 By R.G. Edmonson / The JOURNAL of COMMERCE ONLINE The Consumer Product Safety Commission and Customs and Border Protection have announced the first unit of a new division of inspectors to verify the safety of imported goods. Officials said Wednesday that that the first import surveillance unit is being deployed at the Port of Long Beach, with others to be set up at other high-volume ports. They will work with inspectors from Customs and Border Protection to check incoming merchandise such as toys and electronics for lead paint, electrical hazards and other safety concerns. Nancy Nord, acting chairman of CPSC, said that the surveillance units will have the authority to stop and hold suspect shipments. The port surveillance units are a product of interagency agreements that Customs, CPSC and other federal offices reached last fall after a wave of news about imported goods contaminated with hazardous materials. The CPSC also joined the International Trade Data System, part of Customs’ Automated Commercial Environment project, which provides agencies with authority at the borders with relevant data. |
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| WTO rules against U.S. in shrimp bond dispute |
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| This development is significant because US Customs bonding requirements have been a tough issue for US importers to overcome. They amount to a trade barrier. March 3, 2008 By The JOURNAL of COMMERCE ONLINE The World Trade Organization on Friday ruled against the United States customs bond imposed on shrimp exporters from India. The three-member dispute settlement panel said the application of ‘enhanced continuous bond requirement’ on Indian shrimp exports was “inconsistent” with the rules of anti-dumping agreement. The panel said the bond imposed by the U.S. on imports of shrimp from India and Thailand violates the trade body's anti-dumping rules as well as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. Exporters argued that because of the bond, they incurred prohibitive costs on their shipments. India had challenged the bond requirement and a panel was established in 2007 to review the case. The U.S. argued that the bond requirement -- made in the wake of American anti-dumping measures on shrimp imports from India and five other countries -- was meant to be a “reasonable security.” As a result of the bond, over $250 million was collected by the U.S. from India and other exporting countries. |
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| Hapag-Lloyd, Mediterranean Shipping impose inland surcharges nsf |
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| March 5, 2008 By William Armbruster / Shipping Digest Hapag-Lloyd and Mediterranean Shipping Co. plan to impose equipment surcharges on export containers from specified Midwest cities beginning in early April. Hapag-Lloyd said the surcharges reflect changes in both import and export cargo flows and rising repositioning costs at several Midwest locations. The German carrier will impose $300 surcharges on specific types of containers on westbound trans-Pacific routes. The surcharges will apply to standard 20-foot containers from Kansas City, Milwaukee and Omaha and to 40-foot standard and high-cube boxes from Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Detroit and Decatur, Ill. The surcharge will also be assessed on 40-foot high-cube containers exported from Cleveland, Louisville, and Grand Rapids, Mich. The surcharges, which also apply to cross-border shipments via Canada, will take effect April 1. They apply to all tariff and service contract rates, the carrier said in an announcement to customers Feb. 29. The surcharge by MSC, called a “pick-up fee,” will take effect April 2. Its surcharge will be $100 for standard 20-foot containers and $150 for 40-foot standard and high-cube containers. The surcharge will apply to all export moves from the following ramp locations: Chicago (all locations), Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Houston, Louisville, New Orleans, Kansas City, Indianapolis, St. Louis and St. Paul. “MSC, along with many other carriers, is suffering from a serious shortage of containers in the U.S., this especially from inland locations,” the carrier said in a notice to customers. The carrier noted that the new surcharge is in addition to its existing intermodal and fuel surcharges. |
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| LA truck crisis looming |
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March 4, 2008 By Bill Mongelluzzo / The JOURNAL of COMMERCE ONLINE LONG BEACH, Calif. -- The transportation community in Southern California could face a severe shortage of harbor trucking capacity this fall due to conflicting clean-air plans and the federal Transportation Worker Identification Credential program. Southern California economist John Husing, who studied the harbor trucking environment in 2007, said the nation’s largest container complex could experience a shortfall of 8,350 trucks and owner-operators by October. Husing, who addressed the 8th Annual Trans-Pacific Maritime Conference sponsored by The Journal of Commerce on Monday, said about 16,800 trucks call regularly at the ports, but this capacity could diminish significantly because many drivers will not qualify for the TWIC biometric identification card. At the same time, thousands of trucks built before 1989 will be banned from the harbor on Oct. 1 because they do not meet the ports’ new emission standards. Husing’s surveys, conducted on behalf of the ports, indicated that 15 percent to 22 percent of the drivers may not even apply for a TWIC card because they cannot demonstrate proof of legal residency in the United States, a prerequisite for TWIC certification. More than 1,000 trucks should be added to the harbor fleet this year just to accommodate expected growth, he said. The harbor trucking scene is muddled even further because the Long Beach Harbor Commission in February approved a clean-trucks program that does not mandate the use of employee drivers in the harbor. The Natural Resources Defense Council, which has allied with the Teamsters union and is pushing for unionization of harbor trucking, has threatened to sue the port over the issue, Husing said. The Port of Los Angeles has delayed the release of its clean-trucks program as it seeks a way to adopt the employee-driver mandate. If Los Angeles follows through with a clean-trucks plan that requires licensed motor carriers to use employee drivers, the trucking industry will sue the port. Curtis Whalen, executive director of the American Trucking Associations’ Intermodal Conference, said ATA could challenge Los Angeles in court under the federal preemption clause that reserves for the federal government the authority to regulate “rates, routes and services” in interstate transportation. However, ATA could also work through the Federal Maritime Commission, which is charged with preventing discrimination in port transportation. Thousands of owner-operators would lose their jobs if Los Angeles adopts the employee-driver model, Whalen said. Husing said when he completed the drayage study last year, he believed compromise was possible. Husing said he is no longer optimistic that the ports can resolve their differences and implement a joint clean-trucks plan by the Oct. 1 deadline. |
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| S. Calif. shippers facing another container fee |
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| February 27, 2008 By Bill Mongelluzzo / The JOURNAL of COMMERCE ONLINE LONG BEACH, Calif. -- Shippers that move containers through California ports would incur yet another fee if a bill sponsored by State Sen. Alan Lowenthal is approved by the legislature and signed into law. Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, removed from the California Senate's inactive list a bill that would impose a $30-per-TEU fee on containers moving through Los Angeles, Long Beach and Oakland, with the revenues to be used to develop freight infrastructure. Lowenthal introduced the bill in 2007, the first of a two-year session for the state legislature. He pulled the bill last fall at the request of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, with the understanding that he would re-introduce it in the 2008 session. Since then, however, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have moved to enact container fees. The ports have placed into their tariffs a $35-per-TEU dirty truck fee. Revenues from that fee, expected to total $1.6 billion over the next five years, will be used to help operators purchase new trucks that meet the ports' strict diesel emission guidelines. The ports intend to begin collecting the fee on Oct. 1. Also, the ports intend to impose a $15-per-TEU infrastructure fee beginning Jan. 1, 2009, with the revenues to be used to develop roads and bridges within the harbor area. Two additional fees have been on the books for some time. Importers and exporters who deliver or receive containers at the harbor during peak traffic periods pay a $50-per-TEU fee. Revenue from the PierPass program is intended to offset the added costs terminal operators face for running five off-peak gates each week. The PierPass program has been credited with reducing congestion at marine terminals. Also, containers that move by rail to and from the Southern California ports pay a fee designed to retire the debt on the 20-mile Alameda Corridor, the freight-only rail line in Los Angeles County. Legislative action on Lowenthal's infrastructure bill could come this week. |
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| West Coast labor talks to begin March 17 |
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February 29, 2008 By William Armbruster / SHIPPING DIGEST NEW YORK -- Labor negotiations between the union representing West Coast dock workers and management are scheduled to begin on March 17, said Anthony Scioscia, senior vice president, labor relations, for Maersk Inc. Scioscia expressed optimism that the early start to the negotiations between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association will produce a settlement before the present contract expires on June 30. The Maersk executive praised ILWU President Bob McEllrath and PMA President Jim McKenna. He described McEllrath as “a stand-up guy and a man of the utmost integrity,” who “will go to the mat for his members.” McKenna, who previously worked for both Sea-Land Service and CSX Lines in labor relations and operations, is the right man for the job, he said. “These two men will produce a fair and equitable contract without a disruption,” Scioscia assured the Traffic Club of New York Thursday at the group’s annual dinner. He said the two sides should be mindful of the lessons from the 2002 contract negotiations when the failure to reach a peaceful settlement led to a 10-day lockout at West Coast ports that cost the U.S. economy $1 billion a day and created a backlog of cargo that took 100 days to clear. Despite his optimism, Scioscia warned that the industry should be prepared for the unforeseen. “Something could go wrong. The negotiations will be tough, challenging and time-consuming,” he said. Neither labor nor management will know the other side’s demand until they begin negotiations, said Scioscia, who was honored by the club as its man of the year. |
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| Vietnamese may face antidumping investigation |
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| Vietnamese may face antidumping investigation Trade adviser says chances of action are ‘high’ -- Furniture Today, 2/27/2008 6:17:00 AM HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam — Vietnamese furniture exporters might face a U.S. antidumping investigation, a Vietnamese official said at a meeting here. According to a report on the VietnamNet Bridge Web site, Ngo Van Thoan, Vietnam’s trade counselor in the United States, said the risk of legal action against Vietnamese furniture exporters was “high.” U.S. importers already pay antidumping duties on Chinese wooden bedroom furniture, but no antidumping petition against Vietnamese furniture imports has been filed with U.S. officials. Thoan said Vietnamese furniture exports to the United States rose 36% last year to more than $1.2 billion. To read the story, click here. http://english.vietnamnet.vn/biz/2008/02/770682/ |
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| Customs extends comment period for 10+2 proposal |
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| February 1, 2008 4:25:52 PM (JOC) Customs and Border Protection has extended the comment period for the proposed 10+2 importer security filing rule. The new deadline for comments will be March 18, from the original March 3 deadline. |
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