Beneficial cargo owners (BCOs) can't retrieve freight aboard Hanjin ships subject to third-party possessory liens without first paying marine terminal operators (MTOs) and other third parties, despite an interim order from a U.S. bankruptcy judge in New Jersey that grants Hanjin temporary Chapter 15 protection, said Ed Greenberg of GKG Law (see 1609090059). “The MTOs have liens, they’re going to assert those liens,” he said Sept. 12 during the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America Government Affairs Conference in Washington. “Until they get paid, you’re not getting the assets.” Although the order prevents any parties from moving to seize any Hanjin assets, the order doesn’t apply to any existing third-party possessory liens, Greenberg said. Furthermore, no party can terminate any Hanjin lease because of insolvency, but could for another reason, and Hanjin can’t refuse to make the containers available, he said. Also, the interim court order requires Hanjin to cooperate with BCOs, but doesn’t apply to non-vessel-operating common carriers (NVOCCs), as none has appeared before a U.S. bankruptcy court, Greenberg said.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge John Sherwood in Newark, New Jersey, called a hearing Sept. 9 to weigh a motion from Hanjin Shipping’s foreign representative seeking Chapter 15 protection from U.S. creditors while Hanjin’s bankruptcy case is being heard in South Korean courts. Sherwood granted the company temporary Chapter 15 protection in an “interim” order Sept. 6. On the table for the judge to consider was a “proposed cargo protocol” Hanjin's representative suggested Thursday in an apparent bid to win the judge’s backing of its Chapter 15 petition. The protocol would free companies such as Samsung to sign contracts with third parties for the removal and dispensation of cargo that has been aboard ships in Hanjin’s control since the shipping company went into Korean receivership nearly two weeks ago (see 1608310038).

Though millions of dollars worth of merchandise “is in limbo at the moment” from Hanjin Shipping’s bankruptcy filing (see 1609020011), import cargo volume at the nation’s major retail container ports “should be at near-peak levels this month,” the National Retail Federation said Sept. 9 in its Global Port Tracker report (here). “Hanjin should not significantly affect volume for the month since alternative arrangements to unload those containers or shift cargo elsewhere should be dealt with by the time the numbers are tallied,” Jonathan Gold, NRF vice president-supply chain and customs policy, said in a statement. NRF forecasts that U.S. ports covered in its report will handle 1.62 million 20-foot cargo containers or their equivalents in September, down only 0.2 percent from the volume handled in September 2015, the group said. Volume for the year is expected to rise 1.8 percent from 2015, to 18.6 million containers, NRF said.

Geodis integrated OHL into the company in the next step following Geodis' purchase of the U.S. logistics company last year (see 1508190015), the purchaser said in a news release (here). “Integrating and rebranding OHL as Geodis is a continuation of our investments in making our services more attractive and enhancing our value proposition,” Geodis CEO Marie-Christine Lombard said.

The Toy Industry Association (TIA) will be working to eliminate technical barriers to trade and foster an open dialogue regarding several countries’ rules and regulations related to toy safety compliance, labeling, registration and testing, TIA said (here). The association is calling for the alignment of the rules of countries including Colombia, Brazil, China, Indonesia and Egypt, with ASTM F963 or ISO 8124, requirements established by the international standards-setting organizations for consumer toy safety. Recent upticks in international toy regulations have acted as technical barriers to trade, differing from international norms yet offering no additional safety benefits for products, TIA CEO Steve Pasierb said in a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman (here). “Some of these standards have been put into place simply to limit imports and protect the competitiveness of a country’s domestic toy industry,” Pasierb said. “While the industry is supportive of international governments enacting toy safety regulations that are based on sound science and that reduce risk of harm, toy safety regulations should not be used as a trade barrier.” The letter also thanks the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative for working on behalf of the U.S. toy industry at the World Trade Organization Technical Barriers to Trade Committee and with foreign governments. Among other things, USTR persuaded Turkey to lift a “redundant” testing requirement assessed on all toy imports, worked with Taiwan to harmonize chemical regulations with international standards and revise an “inappropriately applied” formamide standard, and convinced Colombia to adopt ASTM F963 as a demonstration of conformity for toys sold in that country, Pasierb said.

The USA Poultry and Egg Export Council and National Chicken Council blasted the Chinese Ministry of Commerce’s decision to continue for another five years countervailing duties on imports of U.S. broiler chickens, saying the World Trade Organization has determined the duties don’t align with WTO rules. “We are disappointed in this announcement, especially in light of the fact that the WTO has consistently and comprehensively found that China’s countervailing and anti-dumping duties violated its WTO obligations,” the groups said in an emailed statement. “Despite those decisions, China has still refused to remove these duties. The U.S. government has reasonably tried to work with China since then to resolve this matter consistent with the WTO dispute settlement panel’s decision, but China’s continued failure to abide by the ruling and to meet its obligations is unacceptable.” According to media reports (here), the order will enter into force Aug. 30 and renews duties first imposed in 2010, with China planning to levy tariffs ranging from 4 percent to 4.2 percent for U.S. poultry companies shipping to China. While the WTO's 2013 panel report ruled in favor of more than a dozen U.S. claims that China breached WTO rules, China in 2014 completed an investigation and issued a redetermination, identifying new rationales for its duties on U.S. broiler products. The U.S. most recently filed a WTO challenge on the duties in May (see 1605100015).

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) would cut duties on children’s footwear imports by $125 million in the first year of implementation and result in $1.5 billion in direct savings on such duties after the deal’s 12-year phase-in, as total tariffs on children’s footwear have risen 191 percent since 2005, according to a report by the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America (here). All but 0.1 percent of children’s shoe imports face duty rates upwards of 37.5 percent to 67.5 percent, while other imported consumer goods are tariffed, on average, at 1.3 percent, FDRA said. The group argued that the tariffs miss their intention of attempting to protect domestic industry, as the U.S. hasn’t mass-produced children’s shoes in more than 30 years.

Contrary to some assertions, investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanisms in trade agreements don’t favor large corporations, deplete U.S. national sovereignty or cramp governments’ abilities to regulate, Stimson Center distinguished fellow Bill Reinsch said in an opinion column countering criticism of ISDS in trade deals (here). “To attack ISDS in the name of sovereignty is to take the world back to the law of the jungle that is not rule of law based,” Reinsch said. “That may save us an occasional loss, but it will leave our companies defenseless in many countries, which will do far more damage, both to us -- and everybody else.” Furthermore, small businesses file most ISDS claims under free trade agreements, and dispute arbitration panels can’t compel countries to change their laws, Reinsch noted. Writing careful language into trade deals can address other ISDS criticisms, such as lack of transparency, tendencies for biased or unqualified arbiters, and overlap with outside judicial systems, he said. Myriad environmental groups (see 1606070038), including the Sierra Club (see 1503160010), as well as the EU (see 1501140016), labor union leaders (see 1410210028) and several left-leaning politicians -- like presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vt. (see 1605060026), and Reps. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn. (see 1504090057), and Sandy Levin, D-Mich. (see 1503300013) -- have expressed opinions not in support of trade agreements’ ISDS provisions, ranging from skepticism to vehement opposition.

The American Apparel and Footwear Association sent a letter to the four top presidential candidates asking them to end the U.S. government’s requirement to source from Federal Prison Industries (UNICOR) any products that can be made by the government-owned company, which employs over 12,000 prisoners to produce uniforms (here). "The U.S. government rightly prohibits the importation of goods manufactured by prison laborers, but then turns around and buys hundreds of millions of dollars from local U.S. prison factories,” AAFA CEO Rick Helfenbein said in a statement accompanying the letters to Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, Republican candidate Donald Trump, Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein (here). “This duplicity and double dealing must cease. We need to put America's workers first and stop the federal reliance on prison labor." The letter adds that UNICOR’s manufacturing, which largely includes uniforms, undermines “Made-in-USA” initiatives. The campaigns didn’t comment.

Over 100 trade organizations doubled down on a calls for the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) and International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) to start early discussions on either a contract extension or a new West Coast ports contract, as the current one is set to expire in 2019. In a letter to PMA and ILWU (here), the groups say a contract extension is vital to ensure stability and predictability at West Coast ports, and call for both parties to make sure that negotiations don’t spur additional port disruptions, advocating the maintenance of arbitration mechanisms in the existing contract throughout negotiations, even if the current contract expires before reaching a new deal. “We fully believe that agreeing early to a contract extension or a new long-term contract will provide the stability and predictability that is needed for global competitiveness that will benefit all stakeholders (labor, terminal operators, cargo owners, etc.) who rely on West Coast ports,” said the groups, which include the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America, the American Association of Exporters and Importers, and the American Apparel & Footwear Association. A similar industry coalition sent a letter to PMA and ILWU in March also calling for an early start to West Coast port contract negotiations (see 1603160031).