Monday Morning eBriefing

The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) said in a statement Dec. 19 that it continues to investigate the regulations or practices imposed by the Government of Spain which directly or indirectly deny certain vessels access to its ports. Vessels denied access in the past include U.S.-flagged vessels operated under the U.S. Maritime Security Program.

The NCBFAA Customs Committee and Counsel of Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A., continue to provide our customs broker members with the latest details regarding tariffs, including this Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Chart for Unstacking Certain Tariffs and the latest guidance on the reciprocal tariff reductions for Switzerland and Liechtenstein which are retroactive to Nov. 14. The Committee will continue sending our members Trump Administration tariff updates and subsequent CBP guidance, as soon as received.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries (also known as National Marine Fisheries Service) confirmed in recent webinars that the Certificate of Admissibility (COA) requirements under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) will be required for certain seafood shipments from certain countries with restricted fisheries. There will not be a transition period of soft enforcement, despite the complexity of this new requirement and the confusion surrounding it.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Dec. 19 made available for testing in Certification (CERT) Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) an update to the Declared Value and ISO Currency Code fields to be C for Conditional, required for an express bill.

The NCBFAA Board of Directors on Friday, Dec. 19, held a vote to fill two mid-term Officer vacancies, in compliance with association bylaws, Article VIII, Section 5.

On behalf of NCBFAA's Board of Directors, Leadership and Staff, we want to take a moment to acknowledge and welcome Metro Global USA, TRIO Customs Brokers, and Your Favorite Customs Broker which have recently joined our association. We're so excited to have these firms join our organization and we are happy to assist in any way we can! NCBFAA also acknowledges Regular Member corporate name change for CITTA Brokerage Company CBC, LLC.

A summary of the latest legislative and regulatory transport, logistics and trade sector updates brought to you by our NCBFAA Transportation Counsel firm Venable.

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed the Federal Maritime Commission Reauthorization Act of 2025, extending the FMC’s authority and funding through fiscal year 2029. The bill now moves to the Senate for consideration and, if enacted, would further strengthen the FMC’s oversight of the international ocean shipping system.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Dec. 18 issued a Withhold Release Order (WRO) against automobile tires manufactured in Serbia by Linglong International Europe D.O.O. Zrenjanin. Effective immediately, the agency said CBP personnel at all U.S. ports of entry will detain shipments of these tires due to evidence reasonably indicating the use of forced labor in their production.

Don't wait to register to attend the upcoming 2026 NCBFAA Annual Conference at the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa in San Antonio, Texas, on April 12-15, 2026, or it may be too late.

U.S. bankruptcies have continued to surpass pre-pandemic levels, starting in 2019, according to a recent report by Marcos Carias, credit risk firm Coface’s economist for North America. In fact, U.S. business bankruptcies reached 6,574 in Q3 2025, the highest since Q2 2014 and 15% above the 2019 average, marking two consecutive quarters above pre-pandemic levels, Coface noted. While the tariffs have acerbated this trend, U.S. bankruptcies are anticipated to pile on in the coming year.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced Dec. 16 that between Jan. 20 and Dec. 15, 2025, it had collected more than $200 billion in tariffs due to more than 40 executive orders put in place by the Trump Administration.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Dec. 17 reported it has collected more than $1 billion in duties on over 246 million low-cost shipments since the Trump Administration began phasing out de minimis in May 2025.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Dec. 16 enhanced the ACE Secure Data Portal to enable additional account user access to the ACH Refund Authorization tab under the Importer sub-account view.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has updated the ACE CAMIR ACE Ocean/Rail Import Manifest Appendix D - Disposition Codes for a future enhancement with new disposition codes: D2 – Seal Added and D3 – Seal Deleted.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has updated the ACE truck implementation guides to reflect the new Carnet codes.

FIATA highlighted that the United Nations (UN) General Assembly on Dec. 15 adopted the UN Convention on Negotiable Cargo Documents (NCD Convention), marking a significant milestone for international trade, multimodal transport and the digitalization of global supply chains.

In a meeting with NCBFAA Regulatory Agencies Committee (RAC) leaders, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) report that the updated HTS code flagging list for the CPSC e-filing initiative should be available by the end of January. So far, CPSC says they are reducing the list to around 620 HTS codes, with fewer than 200 that are not disclaimable.

A summary of the latest customs and cross-border trade regulatory updates brought to you by our NCBFAA Customs Counsel firm Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg.

The NCBFAA Customs Committee and Counsel of Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A., continue to provide our customs broker members with the latest details regarding tariff changes resulting from the implementation of the U.S.-Korea Strategic Trade and Investment Deal, as well as the latest Customs and Border Protection (CBP) IEEPA guidance and FAQ updates. The Committee will continue sending our members Trump Administration tariff updates and subsequent CBP guidance, as soon as received.