CBSA Turns Down the AMPS for Disclosed Manifest Mistakes

(Today’s Trucking)

Carriers involved in the Advanced Commercial Information (ACI) eManifest program who disclose and correct incidents of non-compliance prior to a CBSA audit will get a break from Administrative Monetary Penalty System (AMPS) penalties.

The “precedent-setting decision,” announced by the Canada Border Services Agency this week, was quickly endorsed by the Canadian Trucking Alliance, which was lobbying hard for the rule change.

Previously, explains CTA, carriers risked being penalized even when providing corrections voluntarily under the CBSA’s “Voluntary Disclosure Program. The failure of the program to guarantee immunity from AMPS penalties discouraged carriers from coming forward with corrections. The rule placed “an unfair burden” on the carrier to make sure all the data associated with a load is accurate, when in fact shippers, importers really own and control the freight and the loading, says CTA.

The CBSA decision means that carriers will only “be accountable for the information they are given at the time it is given to them,” says CTA’s vice president of customs, Jennifer Fox.

So now if a carrier, for example, discovers 21 pallets on a shipment whose manifest reads 20 pallets – a common occurrence for C-TPAT freight, notes CTA – the carrier will not be penalized if it informs CBSA.

Carriers moving higher volumes of freight across the border have been exposed to greater risk of variances in shipment quantities, and therefore information discrepancies, and ultimately compounding AMPS penalties.

As well, carriers voluntarily reporting high volumes of discrepancies will not face immediate AMPS but instead will be given an opportunity to work with CBSA to address reasons for the discrepancies, which could range from improved communications with US shippers, scrutiny when selecting freight or customized solutions to deal with specific operational challenges, says CTA. Source.

Truckload Demand, Pricing Seen Still Rising

(Journal of Commerce Online – William B. Cassidy)

Surveys show tight truckload capacity boosting rates 5% or more

Truckload carriers are reporting increasing demand for freight services and higher rates this month, a sign there may still be life in trucking’s fall peak season. Surveys by investment firm Longbow Research and Transport Capital Partners show truckload rates rising and capacity tightening since mid-August.

Longbow’s weekly Truckload Barometer, which measures demand and capacity, rose 10.5% from the previous week Sept. 14, its fourth consecutive increase. The index is up 40% since mid-August, Longbow said, despite other indications that the economy and international shipping and imports are slowing. Read more here.

ACI eManifest Roll-Out Delayed Again

(Deanna Pagnan – Canadian Trucking Alliance)

Implementation postponed by one month to Oct. 31

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has announced that it is again delaying the implementation of the ACI eManifest program for the highway mode, this time by one month from September 30th to October 31st, 2010. ACI eManifest was initially slated to roll out in June of this year, but was pushed to September to allow CBSA to ensure the integrity of the program given the volumes of data being transmitted by highway carriers. According to CBSA the reason for the most recent delay is related to the software of other commercial programs, not ACI.

According to Jason Proceviat, CBSA’s eManifest Director, “While ACI is ready to go, we bundle some commercial programs together, and there are a few delays from other areas that need to be addressed before we can go live.”

Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) CEO David Bradley said "the trucking industry understands the challenges involved in implementing such a complex program, but we are frustrated by the latest delay.” He said he hopes CBSA will meet the new implementation date. “Carriers are seeking improved efficiencies at the border,” he said. “This includes electronic transmission of data through ACI, and we are looking forward to implementation sooner rather than later. We want to avoid the stop-start pattern that characterized implementation of the ACE eManifest program in the US.”

There is a keen interest from the trucking industry in getting the program rolled out. Carriers have been preparing for ACI eManifest for a number of years now. In fact, close to a hundred carriers approached CBSA just to participate in the early testing of ACI. CTA has been working closely on the development of the program and believes it will have a beneficial impact on cross-border efficiency.

Candy Makers Go After Obama over Impasse on Mexican Tariffs

(The Hill – Mike Lillis)

The nation’s candy makers this week slammed Washington policymakers for failing to settle a trade dispute with one of their most lucrative export markets: Mexico.

The impasse, the National Confectioners Association warned Friday, will ding the industry with a 20 percent tax on tens of millions of dollars worth of chewing gum and chocolate products heading south of the border. “Dozens of U.S. gum and chocolate makers large and small will immediately feel the effects of these duties,” NCA President Larry Graham said in a statement.

The concerns come in response this week’s announcement by the Mexican government that it would expand the number of products subject to new border taxes – a move designed to pressure the U.S. to allow Mexican long-haul trucks on U.S. roadways. Read more here.

Mexico Is Said to Plan Tariffs on U.S. Pork, Oranges in Trucking Dispute

(Bloomberg – Jens Erik Gould)

Mexico will impose import tariffs on pork, oranges and other U.S. goods because of the U.S. government’s failure to restore a program allowing Mexican trucks to operate north of the border, a Mexican official said.

The new U.S. goods subject to tariffs also include grapefruit, pistachios, chewing gum, cheese and ketchup, said the official, who declined to be identified because he wasn’t authorized to speak on the subject. The U.S. National Pork Producers Council also said in an e-mailed statement that pork will be added to the list of products facing tariffs.

Mexico’s government is waiting for the U.S. to propose a resolution to the standoff, which started when the U.S. Congress ended a pilot program allowing Mexican trucks to deliver goods in the U.S. Mexico responded in March 2009 by putting tariffs of 10% to 45% on U.S. goods including vegetables, wine, juices, sunglasses and toothpaste. Now, authorities are imposing a second round of tariffs covering more goods. Read more here.

Update: A list of tariff items covered by the second round of punitive tariffs can be viewed here (translated from the original release issued in Spanish by the Mexican Secretaria de Gobernacion).

Transcore Freight Index Continues to Surge

(Canadian Transportation & Logistics)

TransCore's Canadian Freight Index continued to show improvement in June, posting its sixth consecutive month of double digit growth in spot market freight availability. The index indicates spot market freight availability was up 59% year-over-year in June.

The index was 11% higher than in May. June, notes TransCore, is generally a peak month for spot market freight. For the second quarter, spot market freight was up 39% over the first quarter and 70% better than Q2 2009. Cross-border load postings were up 68% year-over-year while equipment availability dropped 15% from June 2009, indicating a tightening of capacity.

TransCore's Canadian Freight Index is derived from its Loadlink freight-matching service, which features more than 12 million loads and trucks per year. Read more here.

U.S.-Mexico Trucking Dispute Placing American Jobs at Risk

(Gary Shapiro — Huffington Post)

When Mexico’s President Felipe Calderon visits the White House on May 19, I hope President Obama takes time to mend the deteriorating U.S.-Mexico relationship, which recently soured over a trucking dispute.

Last year, the Obama Administration responded to union requests that reversed several years of policy and blocked Mexican long-haul trucks from crossing the U.S. border. The Administration’s ruse of truck safety flew in the face of a total lack of evidence and years of peaceful trade. Mexico responded quickly...exercising legal rights under longstanding agreements by slapping high tariffs on $2.4 billion worth of American products. These tariffs hurt many American producers, including farmers and manufacturers.

Reopening the U.S. border to Mexican long-haul trucks would lift the excessive tariffs placed on U.S. products. Such action would contribute greatly toward achieving President Obama’s pledge to double exports in the next five years. It would also help save and create some 25,000 U.S. jobs affected by the trading relationship… Read more here.

Note: Mr. Shapiro is President & CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association

Border to Run Smoother, Predicts Customs Czar’s Right Hand

(Today’s Trucking)

Within the next 15 years, many of your trucks should be able to zip through Canada-U.S. border crossings without stopping. That’s the prediction of one of America’s most influential customs officials, Thomas Winkowski, who bears the weighty title “Assistant Commissioner, Office of Field Operations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

Essentially, he’s second in command when it comes to customs and he was addressing a Customs-and-Trade-Compliance conference in Toronto when he made the prediction, in response to a question from the floor.

“In the next 10 to 15 years, the border’s going to be completely different,” he said. “It isn’t going to be a border where everything has to stop. It’s all going to be electronic.”

Winkowski said that new customs-clearance protocols, when they’re completely in place, will mean that any carrier crossing the border will have to be “a trusted partner” of CBP, as will the shippers and manufacturers and drivers. All data about all parties will be available online, so there will be no need for drivers to stop and identify themselves or explain their loads.

Of course in order to reach that goal, he said, the program must have buy-in from all the government agencies involved in all three countries, U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Read more here.

Snow Stalls Freight in Northeast

(Journal of Commerce Online)

Winter storms disrupt freight movements from Great Lakes to Atlantic

Winter storms Wednesday stopped or slowed freight traffic and closed facilities from the Great Lakes to the East Coast. An expansive area of wintry precipitation is “moving from the Mississippi River Valley into the Midwest and toward the Mid-Atlantic,” said the National Weather Service. “Widespread heavy snows are likely over the next few days from the Great Lakes, upper Ohio Valley, central Appalachians, northern Mid-Atlantic, and into the New York City metro area/southern New England region.” Read more here.

Surface Transportation Trade with U.S. Fell 19% in October to US$36.3B

(The Canadian Press)

Cross-border trade continued to improve last October even though goods carried mostly by trucks, rail and pipelines was down 19% to US$36.3 billion from the same month in 2008, the U.S. Department of Transportation said Wednesday. Surface transportation trade with the United States was 4.3% higher than in September 2009. Monthly changes can be affected by seasonal variations, the agency said in its report.

More than US$19 billion of goods were exported from Canada in October, compared to US$18.1 billion in September and US$25 billion in October 2008. Imports from the United States totalled US$17.2 billion, up from US$16.6 billion in September but down from US$19.7 billion in October 2008.

Trucks accounted for about 65% of all cross-border trade. Railways carried 16% and pipelines 12%. The remaining shipments were made by mail and other transportation. Railway exports from Canada enjoyed the largest monthly increase, growing by 9.7%, while imports fell 5.4%. Read more here.

U.S. Freight Transportation Gateways Report

(CIFFA eBulletin)

The U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics released on Friday America's Freight Transportation Gateways 2009, a data profile of the nation's leading international freight transportation gateways in 2008 and trends in movement of goods through these seaports, airports, and land border crossings since 1990.

U.S. freight gateways handled more than $3.4 trillion (in current dollars) of international merchandise trade in 2008, an increase of 9% from 2007. The report, an update of a 2004 BTS report, highlights the top 25 freight gateways. The complete report can be found here.

Related: DOT Report: Ontario Trade Gateways Vital to NAFTA (Today’s Trucking)

Obama Pledges Solution to U.S.-Mexican Trucking Dispute

(Transport Topics)

President Obama told Mexican President Felipe Calderon he is committed to resolving a dispute over Mexican truck access to U.S. highways, Bloomberg reported Monday. Obama said he will also address safety concerns about the trucks that have been raised by Congress, an administration official said after the two leaders met in Guadalajara, Mexico, Sunday in a weekend summit among North American leaders, Bloomberg said.

Calderon told Obama that the dispute has hurt trade, raised consumer costs and reduced job creation, according to a Mexican statement, Bloomberg reported.

Mexican trucks have been allowed to operate in a border zone within about 25 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border, and the Department of Transportation under the Bush administration began a pilot program in 2007 allowing some Mexican carriers to operate on all U.S. roads. Read more here.

Obama’s Arrival Sets North American Integration Adrift

(Embassy)

U.S. President Barack Obama officially takes his place as one of the so-called Three Amigos during the North American leaders’ summit in Mexico this weekend. Yet he will be joining a trilateral alliance that has been in a state of virtual hibernation since his predecessor, George W. Bush, left the scene.

Instead, he and counterparts Stephen Harper and Felipe Calderon will be confronting the reality of a continental alliance adrift and in sore need of political direction and leadership.

With the Bush-era Security and Prosperity Partnership having largely petered out from a lack of direction and a toxic public image, the leaders have a chance to reinvigorate or reinvent the trilateral alliance.

But with three distracted leaders of questionable compatibility, and an apparent lack of a grand vision for the way forward, the future of this forum—and North American integration in general—remains far from certain. […]

Liberal Foreign Affairs critic Bob Rae cautioned against aggressively pursuing continental integration at a time when the “American Congress is in a deeply protectionist mood.”

Pointing to Canada-U.S. trade disputes such as softwood lumber, black liquor and COOL, as well as immigration concerns related to Mexico, he said: “It’s pretty hard to talk about integration when there are such significant barriers to flow of people and of goods and services among the countries.” Read more here.

Mexican Truck Program Revival Clears First Hurdles

(Today’s Trucking)

A plan to allow Mexican trucks to once again cross the American border beyond the longstanding 25-mile restriction zone moved another step closer to reality. According to The Washington Times, a new proposal to reopen the border to select Mexican carriers has gone through all the interagency channels and will be passed along to Capital Hill for a vote.

President Obama has been under pressure by trucking and trade groups to reestablish a version of the Bush Administration’s two year-old, cross-border pilot program he cancelled shortly after taking office.

Saying the move was a breach of NAFTA, Mexico retaliated immediately by slapping tariffs on about 90 U.S. import products.

Now that a new cross-border program has cleared bureaucratic review, businesses interests are hoping the tariffs on $2.4 billion worth of U.S. goods will soon end.