21

60%

That incredibly is the approximate number of luxury cars sitting at Belgium’s Port of Zeebrugge, stranded because they were headed to Russia. The cars, which include the latest Lexus, Cadillac and Mercedes models, arrived from Asia in early April. But now the vehicles come under a ban against luxury goods exports to Russia as part of the sanctions stemming from the Ukraine invasion. In fact, there is a whole range of products stuck at Zeebrugge because of sanctions. The European Union has issued guidelines on the bans but port operators say the rules are often confusing and involve a lot of exemptions. European customs officers are struggling to keep up, contributing to – what else – more supply chain disruptions.

10+%

That’s the percent of Chinese imports by value now arrive as “de minimis” shipments, according customs data and as reported this week by the Wall Street Journal. That’s up from less than 1% a decade ago. What are de minimis imports? They started under federal law to allow American tourists to bring back souvenirs from overseas duty-free. Now de minimis imports have soared to over $67 billion in 2020 from an estimated $40 million in 2012. What is going on? Two things: ecommerce orders shipped from off shore; and exporters getting around US tariffs by shipping many smaller orders, worth below di minimis thresholds. And that’s now easier, after a 2016 decision by Congress to raise the maximum value of de minimis imports to $800, up from $200 previously. In fact, the law allows US retailers that sell Chinese imports - along with Chinese companies that sell directly to US consumers - to avoid tariffs on goods as long as they are packaged and addressed to individual buyers and fall below the $800 cap. Many are calling for changes in the rules.