Q&A: Adrienne Braumiller on International Trade Law
A drienne Braumiller, a customs and international trade law expert, discusses legal and compliance issues that all exporters need to consider before venturing into interna- tional markets.With offices in the U.S. and Mexico, Braumiller Law Group focuses on customs and international trade compliance. What is your take on the current status of international trade?
Adrienne Braumiller
What do you see as common problems in terms of international legal compliance? There is a major dichotomy in this country between companies that have made a major investment in trade compliance on one hand and companies that are either uninformed, or scoff laws, on the other. Customs continues to see itself as a revenue collection agency using audits and other tools to ferret out instances of non-compliance. However, companies who invest in implementing effective internal controls and who monitor their import transactions generally fair better in such reviews than those who take the “head in the sand” approach. What is your position on the value of NAFTA for Texas exporters? Today, NAFTA partners exchange about $2.6 billion in trade per day. Instead of causing the U.S. to lose jobs, NAFTA has created huge opportunities for American companies and has allowed them to greatly increase their business. At the same time, I always stress to companies – that to successfully participate in NAFTA, training, document retention, good internal controls and periodic self-audits are critical.This is very important given the fact that at least 80 percent of the NAFTA Certificates of Origin, the seminal document needed so a company can import duty-free using NAFTA, are facially invalid.This advice applies to both exporters and importers in Mexico, Canada, and the U.S., as the success of these claims depends on the careful administration of the agreement throughout the supply chain. What else should an exporter think about when entering a new market? There are several things that one should be aware of when exporting in general.These include not only customs duties in the country of import, but also local and value added taxes. Countries have licensing and local regulatory rules that may make it difficult or impossible to import. More information on legal and compliance issues related to international trade are available at www.braumillerlaw.com, or by contacting Adrienne Braumiller at adrienne@braumillerlaw.com
Companies are continually seeking new markets or sources of supply and labor.Trade appears to be recession-proof, but with an increase in trade comes an increase in trade sanctions and enforcement.The volume of trade continues to grow, giving customs agencies throughout the world a real challenge in the handling of enforcement and trade facilitation with static resources and ever increasing volume of trade. “Instead of causing the U.S. to lose jobs, NAFTA has created huge opportunities for American companies and has allowed them to greatly increase their business.” What areas has U.S. Customs been focusing on lately? U.S. Customs responds to pressures from several angles. Im- porters seek recognition and concessions for investing in compli- ance. Domestic parties seek protection from infringing or unfair imports. Foreign parties want increased access to U.S. markets. Congress is still seeking to legislate major changes as to how the agency manages trade and compliance. One key development is that Customs has issued Informed Compliance Letters to top importers in which Customs identifies possible areas of risk and warns the targeted company to look at those areas, or risk possible penalties.This is an additional tool the Regulatory Audit Division of Customs is using to increase compliance for companies that listen – and for those companies that don’t, a warning to prepare for an audit, investigation and possible penalties. What are some of the major compliance issues? Two main areas for customs compliance are intellectual property protection and anti-dumping/countervailing duty. U.S. Customs has been under considerable pressure from Congress and domestic interests to improve its enforcement in these areas.
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2017 Texas Export Guide
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