Registration and Continental Breakfast

Co-Chairs’ Opening Remarks

Richard M. Wortman
Partner
Grunfeld, Desiderio, Lebowitz, Silverman & Klestadt LLP

Keynote Address

AnnMarie Highsmith
Executive Assistant Commissioner, Office of Trade
U.S. Customs and Border Protection

The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) in Practice: What it Takes to Rebut the Presumption of Forced Labor: The Newest Lessons Learned and Grey Areas

Richard A. Mojica
Member, Practice Lead,
Customs Import & Trade
Miller & Chevalier Chartered

Amy Morgan
Head of Trade Compliance
Altana AI

Cindy Owens
Senior Trade Counsel
Polaris Inc.

Farley Mesko
Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder
Sayari Labs

In recent years, both the executive and legislative branches have demonstrated an increased interest in leading the international community in ending forced labor practices wherever such practices occur, with a particular focus on China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). How are leading multinationals creating supply chain screening processes and auditing third parties to achieve UFLPA compliance? What are the ramifications of non-compliance?

• Global efforts to address forced labor in the XUAR: Preparing for a complex international regulatorylandscape
• High-priority enforcement sectors
• Exceptions to the ban
• Managing the interplay with economic sanctions
• Compliance takeaways: Importers have an affirmative duty to ensure their supply chain is rid of goods manufactured by slave labor in the XUAR
• The UFLPA is neither retroactive nor confined to a certain threshold
• Use of artificial intelligence for due diligence searches and third-party verifications of suppliers and subcontractors
• Updating contracts for products to be sourced from the XUAR
• High-level commitment from senior management demonstrating the company’s commitment to not using forced labor

Extended Networking Break

Interview

Robert Silvers
Under Secretary for Strategy, Policy, and Plans
U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Working with UFLPA’s Interagency Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force (FLETF) Amid an Intensified Enforcement Landscape: What they are Looking for and How to Foster Positive Working Relationships

Eric Choy
Acting Executive Director, Trade Remedy Law Enforcement, Office of Trade
U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Jerry Cook
Vice President, Government and Trade Relations
Hanesbrands Inc.

Matthew Lapin
Partner
Porter Wright Morris & Arthur LLP

Among its mandates, the UFLPA charged the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force (FLETF), chaired by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), to develop a strategy for supporting the enforcement of the UFLPA. How will this input influence the scope of the FLETF’s enforcement strategy? How will the FLETF incorporate input from public and private stakeholders? This session will bring clarity to the FLETF’s enforcement postures as well as to working with all the agencies involved to avoid penalties.

Networking lunch

The 321 De Minimis Shipment: Maximizing Savings and Avoiding Penalties Amid an Uncertain 321 Policy Future

Nate Bolin
Partner
DLA Piper

Jean-Rene Broussard
Associate General Counsel – U.S. Regulatory Legal Department
DHL Americas

Dave Pentland
Senior Vice President, Compliance
Carson International

A de minimis shipment, also called a Section 321 shipment, allows for goods valued at $800 US Dollars or less to enter duty-free into the United States. This regulation provides a great option for importers to save money and time. It has also spurred an eruption of global e-commerce. The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) however has launched an investigation into the economic impact of this $800 “loophole” on U.S. manufacturing, which signals a possible sunset of the rule (rule comes before the House and Senate in March 2023). During this hands-on session, learn from the experts about how to leverage the 321 as a cost saver, how to avoid potential compliance pitfalls and a prediction on what the future of this rule is as it sits with the USITC.

• How to declare a Section 321 shipment
• Avoiding CBP Penalties and Problems
• Identify the particular shipment the Section 321 claim will be used each day.
• Use a customs broker to ensure consistent filing of import/export transactions.
• Communicate regularly with the logistics team including carriers, freight forwarders, and customs brokers.
• The USITC’s investigation into the rule’s negative economic impacts as a driver of an influx of imports that do not pay duties, taxes, and fees: Does this give imports a significant advantage over U.S.-made goods?
• HYPOTHETICAL DE MINIMIS TRADE SCENARIO

Section 337 Investigations at the ITS and Intellectual Property Rights for Importers: The ITS 337 Pilot Program and What Its Future Means for Patent Infringement

Adam Swain
Partner
Alston & Bird

Dax Terrill
Branch Chief, Exclusion Order Enforcement
U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Section 337 investigations have critical implications for both patent holders and parties alleged to have unfairly imported products into the United States, as well as their business partners. The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) is establishing a pilot program to allow its Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) to issue interim initial determinations (IDs) on fewer than all issues in an investigation.

• Pre-institution investigation and filing
• Enforcement and defense of Investigations involving a wide range of technologies and jurisdictions, including Asia, Europe, and South America
• Appeals to the Federal Circuit
• Enforcement with U.S. Customs

Break

19 CFR 111: Modernization of Customs Broker Regulations and How it Might Benefit, and Progress, Broker/Importer Relations

Carolyn Burkhead
Senior Manager, US Import Compliance & Operations
Boeing

Michael Ford
Vice President, Government and Industry Affairs
BDP International

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) modernization has arrived with a proposed list of changes that restructure certain fundamentals of the business. What are the most noteworthy changes being proposed, and how soon might such updated functionality make its way into ACE?

• Broker-importer communications: Restrictions on third-party interaction in the broker-importer relationship.
• Transitioning all brokers to a single national permit
• Enhancing the process for trade users to communicate brokers and permit information to CBP
• Enabling CBP to see the information provided by trade users and manage broker administration compliance at the national level
• Functionality to enhance the refunds management workflow and provide the ability to search, create, approve, and certify refunds
• Functionality automating the budget clearing account process, enabling improved reconciliation of open receivables, integrating the port collections process into ACE collections, and enabling the entry lifecycle to be contained in one system
• An enhancement for quota certificates

A Reckoning for Section 301 Country of Origin and Customs Valuation Compliance: Anticipated Increased Enforcement and How Exercise Reasonable Care Documentation

Ted Murphy
Partner
Sidley Austin LLP

Suzanne Kane
Partner
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

Direct significant enforcement efforts at the country of origin and customs valuation issues related to Section 301 are coming; it is just a matter of when. This session will delve into what importers need to do not to get caught up in a ramp-up of customs law obligations.

• First of Sale programs
• Changing the sourcing/processing of products
• Reasonable care documentation to have in place that backs up Section 301 compliance

Close of Day One

Registration and Continental Breakfast

Co-Chairs’ Opening Remarks

Richard M. Wortman
Partner
Grunfeld, Desiderio, Lebowitz, Silverman & Klestadt LLP

INTERVIEW

Industry’s Response to UFLPA and the Future of Multinationals’ Supply Chains

Aaron Gothelf
Principal Counsel – Global Trade
The Walt Disney Company

Resilient Supply Chains, Labor Rights, and Digital Trade: The Future of U.S. Trade Policy and the Practical Impacts on Industry

Michael DiPaula-Coyle
Head of International Trade Policy
IBM

Jeremie Klein
Associate Corporate Counsel, Global Trade
Amazon

Kelly Herman
Corporate Counsel Export Import
Northrop Grumman

Hon. Nazak Nikakhtar
Partner
Wiley Rein LLP

This session will take stock of what has worked and what will work for U.S. trade policy headed into 2023, with a focus on practical impacts on industry and multinational e-commerce.

• The state of key current and future U.S. trade agreements
• USMCA
• Indo-Pacific Economic Framework
• The future of labor rights through trade agreements, tools, and relationships with trading partners
• Bolstering supply chain resiliency: Major vulnerabilities to assess:
• Semiconductors/solar panels
• Large capacity batteries and associated rare earth metals
• Pharmaceuticals
• Opportunities to use U.S. trade agreements and future trade agreements to strengthen the collective supply chain resilience
• Re-aligning the US/China trade connection: The global impacts of this tense bilateral relationship
• Digital trade: CBPs 21st Century Customs Framework
• Promoting confidence in U.S. trade policy through enforcement and compliance: Impacts on industry stakeholders

Break

Supply Chains of the Future: CBPs 21st Century Customs Framework (21CCF)

Alaina Van Horn
Chief, IP Enforcement Branch
U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Erika Vidal-Faulkenberry
Global Head, Trade Compliance
Biogen
Appointed Member
COAC – CBP Commercial Operations Advisory Committee

Susan Kohn Ross
Partner
Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP

The explosion in e-commerce in recent years has spurred the growth of a digital world of customs trade functions. This panel will explore cognitive automation and distributed ledger technology and assess the impact on parties throughout the supply chain who are adopting these capabilities to streamline global trade and U.S. customs clearance.

• The 21st Century Customs Framework
• End-to-end supply chain transparency
• Data-centric decision making
• Identify and allocate risk accurately within the supply chain
• Changes to IP enforcement at the border
• Accelerating the complex customs brokerage process via cognitive automation
• The digital ledger (DLT): “Today’s” broker versus “tomorrow’s” broker

Section 301 Tariffs Policy: Where are we Now and Where are we Going?

John Brew
Partner
Crowell & Moring LLP

Peter Martin
Senior Counsel, International Trade
FedEx

Amir Yazdi
Deputy General Counsel
Solar Energy Industries Association

This panel will explore the latest developments related to the China 301 tariffs, and what importers can expect might happen next, including:

• Current litigation status, likelihood of success and next steps
• Tariff exclusion opportunities
• Section 321, and other tariff reduction and mitigation options
• Recent administrative and legislative developments

Lunch

Is This the End of Predetermined End Use? The CyberPower Case and Determining Country of Origin Under Section 301

• The CyberPower case as a possible vehicle to clarify the substantial transformation test used by CBP: Results of the decision and its influence on the 301
• Leveraging takeaways from this case to better manage supply chains while “decoupling” from China
• Has this case spurred an inching toward a different approach to origin determinations under 301?

Defining and Applying Valuation Methodologies and Avoiding the Most Common Missteps

Jeremy Page
Partner
Page Fura, P.C.

Discuss the core components of each individual valuation methodology, as well as when they should be applied. Expert speakers will also delve into how assists, royalties, and other additions become ingredients of dutiable value for imported goods.

• How to determine the correct value of goods and avoid common valuation errors
• Defining the six valuation methodologies and when they should be applied
• Identifying assists, royalties, and other statutory additions as a part of the dutiable value
• Assessing the different types of deductions and how deductions are determined
• Handling products imported for repairs and products which are not for sale

Demystifying Foreign-Trade Zones: Tackling 2 Myths to Leverage FTZs in 2023

Foreign-trade zones, also referred to internationally as “free-trade zones” (and formerly named “free ports”), are areas where goods may be received, packaged, manipulated, manufactured, processed, and re-exported without the intervention of the customs authorities. While FTZs are considered to be outside CBP territory, foreign-trade zones still fall under the supervision of CBP.

• MYTH #1: “My entire company and supply chain will be disrupted if I start using an FTZ.”

With the right FTZ inventory and record-keeping system in place, the only changes a company will notice will be placed on the designed FTZ administrator. Today’s FTZ solution providers establish and manage the entire FTZ program and its inventory. Therefore, there is also no longer a need to physically separate foreign and domestic inventory between FTZ and non-FTZ areas within the facility.

• MYTH #2: “Zones only benefit companies that have long inventory turns, or re-export. Our company turns inventory quickly and has limited exports, so the FTZ program will not benefit us.”

• Relief from inverted tariffs: An FTZ allows the manufacturer to pay duty at the manufactured item rate, rather than the higher component rate.
• Savings with weekly entries: Under standard importing procedures, companies have to pay a Merchandise Processing Fee (MPF) for every Customs entry. The MPF is now capped at a maximum of $538.40 per entry. Under Weekly Entry procedures, zone users can group all imports within a week into a single customs entry and pay a single MPF. This can yield substantial cost savings and reduce processing time and labor.

Close of Conference