33 Interesting and Exciting Career Paths in International Business!
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Made in China, Sold in America
This weekend, I visited both Lowe’s and Home Depot looking for some new plants for my backyard. As I walked by all the newly arrived Christmas merchandise, I casually picked up a few to see where they were made. You guessed it, from Santa to Rudolph, one by one they all clearly stated “Made in China”. I finally did find one item that stated “Assembled in USA from foreign and domestic components.” I was getting frustrated. After all, as a customs and international trade attorney for the past 20 years, including the first 5 as an attorney for U.S. Customs, I have made a living doing international trade. I wondered, what happened to our balance in international trade? What happened to “Made in America”?
Everyone knows that mountains of Chinese goods are daily shipped to and sold in the United States, but what about the reverse. Fortunately, I also have that perspective, as I visit the People’s Republic of China (PRC) at least once a year for U.S. based clients importing from China or Chinese companies selling to the United States. I travel to China on an airplane, am transported to the hotel by car, and sometimes go down to the bar to have a drink. The plane is made by Boeing, the car is a Ford, the hotel is a Sheraton, and the drink is a rum and Coke (Bacardi and Coca-Cola). All of those iconic names are pure Americana.
With 1.4 billion people in China, no wonder American companies,and the rest of […]
U.S. Customs Cracks Down on “Gate Outs”
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (Customs) is now requiring marine terminal operators to secure a bond against “gate out” violations. “Gate out” violations occur when cargo selected by Customs for inspection is offloaded from arriving vessels to marine terminals, and then delivered directly from the marine terminals, thereby avoiding Customs inspection entirely. Customs is now requiring all terminal operators and carriers to post bonds because of repeated “gate out” violations. The bond will guarantee payment of penalties incurred for “gate out” violations. Marine terminal operators have until January 20, 2007 to comply with this new bond requirement.
Customs has the authority to issue civil monetary penalties for “gate out” violations pursuant to 19 U.S.C. 1595a(b). The penalty amount for such a violation is equal to the domestic value of the merchandise, and Customs has the authority to assess penalties against any party who is deemed to be responsible for the unauthorized removal or delivery.
Experienced customs and international trade attorneys may assist with mitigating penalties and in some cases even may get Customs to cancel penalties entirely. Mitigating factors that Customs considers include inexperience, general good performance, low error rate in the handling of cargo, and remedial action taken to prevent future violations.
Marine terminal operators affected are those who engage in commerce with containers and cargo arriving from foreign destinations, either public or private. The only exception is for those who exclusively deal with bulk cargo.
The new regulation requires marine terminal operators to have […]