In response to the use of forced labor in China, Congress passed the ‘Uyghur Forced Labor Protection Act’ in December 2021. The bill gives Customs and Border Protection (CBP) the authority to hold shipments of products suspected of being produced with forced labor or containing components made with forced labor. The new law shifts the burden of proof to the manufacturer, who must show the product does not violate the ban on the use of forced labor.
The U.S. imports an estimated $63 billion in apparel, fabrics, sporting goods, and toys from China annually. Unfortunately, the CBP has not provided much guidance to date, but plans to publish its implementation strategy on June 21, 2022, the same day the law goes into effect. Please find more information in this Bloomberg article.
SFIA fully supports the new laws to limit the use of forced labor in the manufacturing of consumer goods. For more information, please contact Bill Sells, SVP Government Relations & Public Affairs, at [email protected].
Washington, D.C.: June 1, 2022 – In response to the SEC’s proposed major overhaul of 2010 climate disclosure rules, ASTM has developed standards aligned with the new reporting requirements. The ASTM Standards focus on five areas
- Disclosure of Environmental Liability
- Climate Change
- Recognition/Derecognition of Environmental Liabilities
- Environmental Knowledge Management
- Estimating Monetary Cost for Liabilities
The goal in aligning ASTM standards with the new SEC requirements is to help small and medium-sized businesses understand their responsibility in the reporting process.
For more information, please contact Bill Sells, SVP Government Relations & Public Affairs, at [email protected].
Washington, D.C.: May 16, 2022 – Today, the commissioners of the four major U.S. sports leagues, NFL, MLB, NHL, and NBA, sent a joint letter to Congressional leaders asking them to help families with youth activity costs by passing the Personal Health Investment Today (PHIT) Act. PHIT would lower the cost of family activity by 25-37% by allowing consumers to use pre-tax funds to pay for them.
COVID shut down youth sports, and kids’ mental health has suffered. Sports are returning, but families are now faced with high inflation – creating financial challenges. Youth sports are not free and PHIT will lower the cost barrier to healthy kids’ activities. The NFL, MLB, NHL, and NBA recognize the importance of youth sports to a child’s physical & mental health and want Congress to pass PHIT to help families keep kids on fields, courts, and rinks to improve children’s health.
For more information, please contact Bill Sells, SVP Government Relations & Public Affairs, at [email protected].
Washington D.C. May 3, 2022 – The Sports & Fitness Industry Association sent a letter to Senate leaders yesterday requesting the inclusion of a new, transparent exclusion process for Section 301 tariffs on products made in China. Moody’s estimates that only 7.6% of the tariff costs were absorbed by China with ‘the rest of the tab picked up by Americans’.
SFIA joined more than 200 organizations in pushing the Senate to retain language that re-opens a more transparent exclusion process in the final version of trade legislation currently being negotiated with the House. The House trade bill did not include China Exclusions for tariff relief.
Congress is aiming to vote on a Trade Bill this month, and SFIA is pushing for tariff relief via renewal of the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (MTB), the Reauthorization of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program, and the re-opening of the China Exclusion process. In total, these three moves would offer SFIA members 100s of millions of dollars in tariff relief annually.
For more information, please contact Bill Sells, SVP Government Relations & Public Affairs, at [email protected].
April 27, 2022 – In advance of Congress completing work on trade legislation next month, the Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA) joined more than 200 companies and industry organizations on an April 26th letter to Congressional Leaders. The letter presses for the inclusion of a robust Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (MTB) in the trade legislation currently being negotiated. SFIA had 84 petitions approved for the MTB with a potential $42 million in tariff relief on industry products.
The letter points out that manufacturers have paid more than $500 million in tariffs since the MTB lapsed, and requests full retroactivity of tariff relief back to the December 31, 2020 lapse date. Passage of the MTB with full retroactivity would lead to more than $1.5 billion in tariff relief for 2021-2023. Congress is scheduled to take up trade legislation next month.
For more information on the MTB and other tariff relief, please contact Bill Sells, SVP Government Relations & Public Affairs, at [email protected].
With the Shanghai lockdown currently impacting supply chains in China, the ripple effect will be felt across the globe in the future. To help address shipping challenges, the Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA) joined forces with a broad spectrum of industries to request that Congress move quickly to improve and complete work on a final version of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act (OSRA) for greater stability and predictability in shipping policies and supply chains.
Of primary concern are:
- Minimum service standards for ocean carriers
- Certification for detention and demurrage charges
- Prohibition on declining export bookings
- Providing the facilities and instrumentalities to perform transport services
- 3rd party intervention in Federal Maritime Commission actions related to anticompetitive conduct
SFIA has signed on to a letter to Congress requesting swift action on the Ocean Shipping Reform Act (OSRA) to help address problems identified during the COVID supply chain crisis. Click here for a copy of the letter.
For more information please contact Bill Sells, SVP of Government & Public Affairs, at [email protected].
To help reduce the costs of getting products into the U.S. stream of commerce, the Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA) joined a coalition of 176 American businesses, trade organizations, and workers on a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai requesting a fully transparent review of Section 301 tariffs on Chinese made products. The March 29th coalition letter expressed a strong desire for the review process to include a comprehensive economic assessment of the tariff’s impact on the U.S. economy. The group seeks stakeholder inclusion in the review process and asks USTR to conduct a review of all four Lists (1, 2, 3, & 4A) to ensure a complete assessment of the Section 301 Tariffs. It is estimated the government has collected more than $176 Billion in Section 301 tariffs since they were implemented.
Click here to review the letter.
On March 17, 2022, the San Pedro Bay Ports announced a new fee to help attain their goal of zero-emissions ports by 2035. Starting April 1, 2022, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will collect a $10 fee on 20-foot containers entering or leaving the container terminals. The ports are expected to generate $10 million per month from the fee for the “Clean Truck Fund” (CTF). The announcement did not indicate what the CTF money would be used for but they expect the CTF to incentive the changeover to cleaner trucks and expedite the introduction of zero-emission technology in trucking fleets.
Zero-emission trucks entering or leaving the port will be exempt from the CTF. Zero and low-emission trucks must be registered with the port and undergo a one-time inspection to receive an exemption from the CTF. The ports will use PortCheck to collect fees. Trucks must be registered with PortCheck to pay the fee prior to picking up or dropping off containers starting April 1.
For more information please contact Bill Sells, SVP of Government & Public Affairs, at [email protected].
SFIA recently joined other business interests on a letter seeking government intervention, if needed, to avoid west coast labor stoppages during negotiations between west coast ports and labor unions. Past history suggests labor issues will arise as the deadline for a new agreement nears, and U.S. businesses cannot afford an unnecessary and avoidable disruption in supply chains, as the U.S. continues to recover from the pandemic.
Separately, SFIA joined businesses in support of California Bill AB 2406 to combat unreasonable detention and demurrage charges at California ports.
SFIA seeks to ensure a favorable market for its members and supports efforts to reduce the cost of getting sports and fitness products to market.
Date: 2/1/22
On February 1st, SFIA joined other industries on a letter to Speaker Pelosi and Minority Leader McCarthy requesting inclusion of a more transparent Section 301 Tariff Exclusion process for Chinese-made products. To date Customs and Border Patrol has assessed over $126.5 billion in tariffs on U.S. companies importing products from China. A Government Accountability Office (GAO) review of the original Exclusion process under former President Trump found irregularities, inconsistencies and lack of justification for exclusion rejections. The GAO recommended a more transparent Exclusion process in the future to ensure fair consideration of requests. The Senate passed legislation, The U.S. Innovation and Competitiveness Act, included language to re-open a more transparent Exclusion process and the letter makes the case for the House to follow the Senate’s plan.