By Mike Smiszek, Senior Trade Advisor, Braumiller Consulting Group
Many of our basic freedoms are guaranteed by the Constitution. Speech, press, assembly, religion: these are all accepted as sacrosanct rights by reasonable people across the political spectrum. But should we not have the same freedom when it comes to the economy?
By Mike Smiszek, Senior Trade Advisor, Braumiller Consulting Group
The various tariffs that President Trump has imposed since retaking office are based on delegated authority found in several existing statutes. But a century ago, tariffs were primarily the purview of Congress. One of the most controversial manifestations of U.S. tariff legislation (and of American legislation in general) was the Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, signed into law by President Hoover shortly after the United States—and the world—fell into the black hole of the Great Depression.
By Mike Smiszek, Senior Trade Advisor, Braumiller Consulting Group
Several fundamental conditions are widely presumed necessary for a country to enjoy the benefits of global trade. One condition is that import activity ought not exceed export activity. Put more simply, we must sell more than we buy. On its face this seem reasonable. It seems logical that a trade deficit (that is, selling less than we buy) is a drain on our economy. Indeed, every month the news media feed us the bad news about the negative “balance of trade” data reported by the Commerce Department.
By Mike Smiszek, Senior Trade Advisor, Braumiller Consulting Group
A customs broker license is issued to a person who has successfully passed a grueling licensing exam (after paying the exam fee), submitted a license application (along with another fee), and passed the subsequent FBI background investigation. The open-book exam, which lasts 4½ hours and comprises 80 multiple-choice questions, is ostensibly intended to measure one’s knowledge about various customs-related regulations and practices yet experience or employment in a customs-related job is not a prerequisite.
By Mike Smiszek, Senior Trade Advisor, Braumiller Consulting Group
Punctuation matters. I’ve always remembered a poster on the wall of a co-worker’s office—this was back in the 80s—that showed baby seals dancing at a disco under a four-word caption: STOP CLUBBING, BABY SEALS. The poster (which has become an internet meme forty years later) cleverly showed how something as seemingly minor as a comma can change the meaning of a phrase or sentence. If a comma can flip the meaning of a four-word sentence, is it hard to imagine the effect that punctuation, or lack of punctuation, might have on our interpretation of a law or regulation?
By Mike Smiszek, Senior Trade Advisor, Braumiller Consulting Group
For the better part of a decade, the United States waged an ugly dispute with the WTO over a U.S. antidumping and countervailing duty law enacted in October of 2000 called the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act (CDSOA). It became known more informally as the Byrd Amendment in recognition of its sponsor, Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia. Antidumping duties (AD) are assessed when imported goods are, or are likely to be, sold in the United States at prices below their “normal” fair market value.
By Mike Smiszek, Senior Trade Advisor, Braumiller Consulting Group
Several tribunals and courts were established at various periods of America’s history to resolve trade-related litigation, both at the trial and appellate levels, and even the Supreme Court has played a significant role in these disputes. The jurisdiction and structure of these courts evolved as the complexities and volume of trade disputes grew.
By Mike Smiszek, Senior Trade Advisor, Braumiller Consulting Group
A fly on the wall at an executive retreat for Acme Super Duper Widget Company overhears the following conversation between Pete, the CFO, and Saira, the General Counsel.
By Mike Smiszek, Senior Trade Advisor, Braumiller Consulting Group
One of the most anticipated decisions of the Supreme Court’s recent term was Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo. While the specific underlying dispute in Loper Bright isn’t relevant to the trade community—did fishermen have to pay for government-mandated observers on their vessels?—the Court used this case to overturn the broadly applicable judicial deference test established in 1984 in Chevron U.S.A. Inc., v. Natural Resources Defense Council.
By Mike Smiszek, Senior Trade Advisor, Braumiller Consulting Group
When goods are imported into the United States, the importer-of-record (IOR) must, with reasonable care, file an entry (CBP Form 3461) and entry summary (CBP Form 7501), or the electronic equivalents, with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). These documents are the IOR’s preliminary and final declarations about the nature and circumstances of the import transaction, and they tell the story of the transaction through more than forty data elements.
By: Mike Smiszek, Senior Trade Advisor, Braumiller Consulting Group
An inherent aspect of any new technology is that it doesn’t take long for bad actors to figure out how it can be weaponized for nefarious purposes. Cyber-related technologies represent an increasingly dangerous area of risk for everyone, whether they are individual citizens, business and infrastructure entities, or governments. Adversaries of the U.S., including China, Russia, and North Korea have engaged in acts of cyberespionage, often intended not only to cause actual harm, but also to test our ability to counter acts of malicious cyber-intrusion.
By: Mike Smiszek, Senior Trade Advisor, Braumiller Consulting Group
A boycott is the organized and intentional refusal to engage in activity, whether directly or indirectly, with an identifiable specific group of persons in order to achieve a discriminatory policy objective based upon national origin, religion, ethnicity, race, gender, or other group characteristic.
By: Mike Smiszek, Senior Trade Advisor, Braumiller Consulting Group
Tariff classification-related court precedents have significantly shaped the way importers, brokers, consultants, lawyers, and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) classify goods today under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS, or simply HTS).
By: Mike Smiszel, Senior Trade Advisor, Braumiller Consulting Group
Two bodies of export regulations typically come to mind when we think of export controls: the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) of the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) of the State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC).
By: Mike Smiszek, Senior Trade Advisor, Braumiller Consulting Group
Tariffs are inherently controversial because of their financial consequences. An importer wants to pay as little duty as possible while Customs (CBP) wants to collect as much tariff revenue as possible. The one constant in this battle between industry and government is the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS).
Braumiller Law Group PLLC, is an international
trade law firm based in Dallas, TX, U.S.A. Braumiller
Law Group provides legal services related to
international trade and Customs regulations.
This website is a resource of general information. The content provided is not to be considered as legal advice and is not intended to create an attorney-client relationship