Upcoming NAFTA renegotiations should result in the prohibition of customs duties on digital transmissions, Canadian and Mexican de minimis levels consistent with the U.S. threshold, and a ban on burdensome customs procedures, the Internet Association said in an outline of priorities for the expected trilateral discussions (here). NAFTA should ensure governments can’t add extra charges to the flow of music, video, software, e-books and games across borders, the association said. World Trade Organization members have agreed to a temporary moratorium on such duties, which some countries have threatened to apply, the association said. With regard to de minimis, the “artificially low” levels of Mexico and Canada disproportionately impact internet-enabled U.S. businesses that regularly ship low-value items, especially small companies, the group said. NAFTA should bring Canada’s and Mexico’s thresholds up to the U.S. $800 level, the association said.

Companies should have a contingency plan in case the Trump administration immediately withdraws from NAFTA, members of the trade community said during a May 3 panel discussion. Companies should be “making sure that your business leaders know what happens in those ninety days after [congressional] notification, how long does the tariff structure stay in place, what are the reversion tariffs that go into place should everything fall down, what does CAFTA do, what does Mexico revert to?” Archer Daniels Midland Vice President of Government Relations Shannon Herzfeld said during a Kelley Drye event examining the first 100 days of Donald Trump’s presidency. “When you have all that data down, then you can have some realistic ideas of what that world might look like.” President Donald Trump was reportedly considering issuing an executive order to withdraw the U.S. from NAFTA last week (see 1704260049).

Allen Lund Company, a California transportation broker, and Santos International, a Texas freight forwarder and customs brokerage, partnered to create a new company, Allen Lund said (here). The new company, TransKool Solutions, is located in Mission, Texas, and will offer warehousing, load consolidations and customs brokerage, Allen Lund said. "Managing operations will be Kristi Salinas, with support from both Allen Lund Company and Santos International," it said.

Microsoft will help logistics giant Maersk add several new digital tools, including a customs brokerage application, under an agreement between the two companies, the companies said in a news release (here). Maersk plans to "leverage digital solutions to revolutionize the way it operates its assets," it said. Maersk's business unit for supply-chain solutions, Damco, "recently launched several digital supply-chain solutions built on Microsoft Azure," the company said. "The next app to be launched is a digital app for Customs House Brokerage. The preparation of documents to clear goods is an increasingly important part of the supply chain. Damco's solution provides customers with outstanding visibility as well as the ability to manage the clearing of goods by exception. The app combines big data from both internal and external sources, which increases the capability for analytics including exception management and predictive analytics."

Samuel Shapiro & Company will reorganize itself to along the lines of CBP's Centers of Excellence and Expertise, the company said in its newsletter (here). "We have established seasoned entry teams that are experts in the specific commodity and focus strictly on the entry process and entry requirements," the customs brokerage said. "Supporting this group is our Compliance team that is organized similarly, is proactively researching changes that may affect importers and us, and is educating both you and your entry team about what they are seeing in the trade. This model ensures we are presenting the best product; it also puts us in an excellent position to challenge the CEEs whenever the situation arises."

Chinese “nation-state threat actors” breached the National Foreign Trade Council’s (NFTC’s) website at least between Feb. 27 and March 1, through using a link leading to a remote script that would launch when anyone visited certain pages on the website, Fidelis Cybersecurity said in a summary after observing the incident (here). Fidelis first observed the “inject” on the registration page for an NFTC board of directors meeting in Washington scheduled for March 7, the cyber firm said. The remote script was the “Scanbox framework,” a Web reconnaissance tool exclusively known in the research community to have been used by bad actors working with or sponsored by the Chinese government, Fidelis said. It is “highly probable” that the hack targeted private sector players involved in lobbying on U.S. foreign trade policy, the company said. NFTC didn’t comment.

The American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) published the 18th edition of its Restricted Substances List (here), which provides information on regulations and laws that restrict or ban certain chemicals and substances in finished home textile, apparel and footwear products around the world. The AAFA released the last list in April 2016. "As national and international regulations are continuously evolving, it can be difficult to keep track of the latest regulations," AAFA CEO Rick Helfenbein said in a press release (here). "That is why AAFA does the heavy lifting for the entire industry with this report, to ensure that the products being sold in stores are safe for consumers."

Kewill and the recently acquired LeanLogistics have rebranded as BluJay Solutions, the companies said in a March 6 news release (here). "With BluJay, organizations can easily manage goods and services across an integrated Global Trade Network; rapidly onboard services, carriers, customers and business units; and actively collaborate with trade participants to expedite trade logistics," it said. "BluJay captures all data streaming across the network, so that organizations can analyze and operationalize it to their advantage." BluJay services include "transportation, parcel, warehouse, and customs management, as well as freight forwarding and compliance."

The American Made Coalition, a group of companies that support House GOP border adjustability provisions within tax reform, released some names of its members (here). The group launched on Feb. 1 but didn't list the member companies then (see 1702020048). Among the members are Qualcomm, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, GE and the Dow Chemical Company. Several of the member companies are also members of the Alliance for Competitive Taxation, which also supports the House tax reform agenda (see 1701270049).

India again ranked near the bottom among 45 “global economies” included in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Global Intellectual Property Center’s annual IP index report (here). GIPC ranks the 45 countries based on patents, trademarks, copyright, trade secrets, enforcement and international treaties. GIPC ranked India at 43, ahead of Pakistan and last-place Venezuela. India ranked in either last place or next-to-last in GIPC’s previous four index reports. The U.S., UK, EU-member nations and Japan continued to rank at the top of the index, with those nations holding all but two of the top 10 spots. The U.S. ranked at No. 1, while Singapore and South Korea ranked at No. 8 and 9, respectively. “Emerging markets, such as India, have made incremental gains and embraced positive rhetoric with their [intellectual property rights] IPR policies, but they have not yet followed up with the legislative reforms innovators need,” GIPC Executive Vice President Mark Elliot said in a news release (here). “Some developed countries, including Canada and Australia, continue to implement policies that undermine their proud traditions of IP-led innovation. And even world leaders such as the U.S. have room to grow and improve.”