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Author Archives: Trade, Customs and Import, Export Attorney
According to the Telegraph, HSBC Holdings PLC (HSBC) Chairman Mark Tucker is reported to have told one of the British Prime Minister’s advisers that HSBC bank in China could face retaliation if Britain bans networking equipment from Huawei Technologies.
This past January, Britain designated Huawei a “high-risk” vendor and placed a limit to Huawei’s 5G participation in the UK 5G network at 35% and excluding Huawei form the data-heavy core of the network.
In addition, there are current discussions with entirely removing Huawei out of the 5G network by 2023.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents in San Juan seized counterfeit watches and jewelry from a shipment from Hong Kong. If genuine, the value of the counterfeit products would total approximately $256,000. The above image from Customs shows a display of the fake Rolex brand watches seized.
If you have had your goods seized by Customs, you may face both criminal and civil penalties. Contact David Hsu by phone/text at 832-896-6288 to discuss your options – feel free to also send us an email at attorney.dave@yahoo.com.
According to CBN News, the Trump administration will sign the “Uyghur Human Rights Policy Acts” this upcoming week – legislation that was passed through both houses of the usually contentious Congress.
The passage of the “Uyghur Human Rights Policy Acts” is the first legislation passed by any nation that has addressed Uyghur’s political, economic, social and religious rights and persecution by China’s communist party. The significance of the new act is the ability to impose Magnitsky sanctions against Chinese officials who have been responsible for persecuting religious and ethnic minorities in China.
The Russia and Moldova Jackson–Vanik Repeal and Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012 (Magnitsky Act) authorizes the US government to sanction individuals who perpetrate human rights offenders, freeze their assets, and can ban individuals from entering the US.
Uyghurs are an ethnic minority in China that practice Islam and in recent years (since approximately Spring of 2017), China’s communist regime has been forcing Uyghurs to denounce their religious practices and adopt more non-traditional way of life. According to CBN, more than 3 million Uyghurs are being detained against their will.
According to the Japan Times website today, China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism advised China’s citizens not to visit Australia due to racial discrimination and violence against Asians due to COVID-19 pandemic.
However, Australia believes Friday’s travel advisory is in retaliation for Australia advocating an investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. A claim verified when Chinese Ambassador to Australia – Cheng Jingye told Australian media that the country might face a Chinese boycott of its tourism and exports of wine, beef and other goods if the government pressed for a corona virus inquiry.
This travel advisory is in addition to the 80% tariffs China has placed on the import of Australian barley and a beef ban on Australian beef suppliers due to labeling issues. Australia argues they do not want a trade war and that no evidence supports dumping of Australian barley or errors in beef labeling.
If you have any trade, import, export, or compliance questions – feel free to contact David Hsu by phone/text at 832-896-6288 or by email at attorney.dave@yahoo.com.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Officers in Kentucky seized a shipment containing an antique amber glass bottle believed to be an antique from the 9th to 10th century. CBP officers forwarded the antique to a subject matter export who examined the bottle and determined the bottle was from Iran between the 11th and early 13th centuries.
The shipment from the UK bound for an address in Colorado was unfortunately seized for Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) violations. As you are aware, current OFAC rules prohibit the importation of goods or services from Iran. OFAC is a department under the U.S. Treasury and enforces economic and trade sanctions against certain countries and individuals who are believed to be involved with terrorism, narcotics, human trafficking or other illegal and disreputable activities.
Besides OFAC issues, CBP also helps protect cultural property and keeps antiques with their rightful owners. The seized Iranian vase will be returned to Iran.
In addition to merchandise from Iran, OFAC regulations prohibit importation of goods and services from Cuba, Burma (Myanmar), and most of Sudan. Certain exceptions can be made but do require an OFAC license for those importations.
If you have any questions about OFAC enforcement or compliance, contact David Hsu by phone/text anytime at 832-896-6288 or by email at: attorney.dave@yahoo.com.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) continues to seize many shipments of counterfeit, unapproved or other COVID-19 products of questionable quality.
At the beginning of June 2020, CBP has seized the following COVID-19 related items:
107,300 FDA-prohibited COVID-19 test kits in 301 incidents; 750,000 counterfeit face masks in 86 incidents; 2,500 EPA-prohibited anti-virus lanyards in 89 incidents; and 11,000 FDA-prohibited chloroquine tablets in 91 incidents.
In addition to the risk of using non-FDA approved drugs, CBP claims the sale of counterfeit COVID-19 goods benefit organized crime.
If you have had your shipment seized by Customs, contact seizure attorney David Hsu by phone/text at anytime to 832-896-6288 or contact us by email at attorney.dave@yahoo.com.
According to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) media release, CBP officers intercepted a shipment of lumber from Cameroon containing termites. The pests were found around the stacks of lumber for entry into the US. When CBP finds invasive pests or larvae of potentially invasive species, a sample is collected and submitted to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for further analysis and confirmation.
The container with the lumber was sealed and secured while USDA evaluates the sample pest, ultimately determining the termites as Kalotermitidae species, or commonly known as the dry worm termites. These termites are known to damage timber used as a structure and hardwood floors in the home.
If you have your shipment seized by Customs due to the presence of an invasive species -whether the wood-boring wasp or a dry worm termite – contact David Hsu immediately to discuss your options. Depending on the type of pest, there may be some cost effective options instead of re-exporting back to the origination. Call/text anytime to 832-896-6288 or email David at attorney.dave@yahoo.com, dh@gjatradelaw.com.
I previously posted on this blog back on May 23rd about seizure of $252k in cash that was marked in red Chinese letters with the words道具专用. Which is loosely translated as “for prop use only”. Earlier this week, CBP seized an additional $351,000 in prop currency from a shipment from Shanghai, China and headed to a residence in Milwaukee.
Upon further examination, Customs seized the counterfeit currency, noting the bills all were marked with the same serial number, lack of red and blue fibers and missing the embeded watermark. Customs also noted on the back were Chinese letters on back of bills in red.
CBP only posted the image above so I do not know for sure what Chinese characters were on the back, but the words were probably the standard 道具专用, meaning “for prop use only”. While labeled for prop use only (such as in movies), CBP considers these “foreign currency notes” as counterfeit and will destroy them. One such reason is because the prop money has been successful used in all major cities at multiple retailers.
If you have had your goods seized by Customs, contact customs seizure attorney David Hsu by phone/text at 832-896-6288 or by email at attorney.dave@yahoo.com.
Earlier today, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) changed a withhold release order (WRO) to allow tobacco from Malawi’s Alliance One International, LLC.
What is a withhold release order (WRO)? A WRO is used by CBP to prevent the importation of goods from companies with a reasonable suspicion of being produced using forced labor.
How do you cancel a WRO? CBP will require an audit of the company to cancel a WRO. In the instant article, Alliance One International’s social compliance program was likely evaluated and found by Customs to minimize the risks of forced labor from the supply chain. Alliance One likely had to demonstrate to CBP the the tobacco produced and harvested from their farms does not use forced labor.
Does this impact the other tobacco growers on Malawi? No, the WRO will continue to apply to imports of tobacco from Malawi by any other company that has not demonstrated to CBP there is no forced labor in its supply chain.
Can you tell me more about a WRO? The WRO was born out of Federal statute 19 U.S.C. 1307. This statute prohibits importation of merchandise mined, manufactured or produced, wholly or in part, by forced labor, including convict labor, forced child labor and indentured labor.
If you are an exporter subject to a WRO, and would like the WRO to be removed, contact attorney David Hsu by phone/text anytime at 832-896-6288 or by email at attorney.dave@yahoo.com.
Follow CBP Office of Trade on Twitter @CBPTradeGov.
This is a long read and I haven’t read through a quarter of it. Will likely take me the entire weekend to go through the agreement.
In the meantime, if you have any questions how the new USMCA rules will impact your business, give me a call anytime or text, 832-896-6288 or by email at attorney.dave@yahoo.com.
