Issue #4 - SOP Updates and Career Advice

Hi there,

Thank you for being part of the Virk Trade Compliance weekly newsletter! If you like the series, don’t forget to recommend and share it with others! If you have any feedback (good or bad), feel free to reach out to me at [email protected].

I’d love to hear from you!

Global Trade Compliance Updates

• India thinking of making over 40 products dutiable to promote local manufacturing.

• Debate on whether Section Clearance into the U.S. is harmful for U.S. or not.

• In 2024, China plans to raise tariffs on close to 900 items.

• Russia claims it is “beating” sanctions.

• US C-TPAT portal 3.0 live now - all need to register new accounts.

• Volvo plans to use the U.S. Drawback program to avoid paying extra 25% duties on Chinese EVs.

• UK-CA FTA running into issues.

• Canadian Importers will need their own Customs Bond once CARM Phase 2 goes live in May.

• Mexico states companies should prepare for higher Customs audits.

Compliance Tips

• SOP updates: Do regular SOP updates. I know it’s tough, and it’s time-consuming. But in order to stay compliant and make sure your vendors continue to stay compliant, regular updates are necessary.

• Webinars: Find and attend webinars even for the topics which you think you know everything about. Trust me, you’ll find new information where you don’t think it’s possible to find anything new.

• Take meetings about topics you’re not yet looking into: Been there, done that. This helps your brain think about stuff it’s not meant to think about yet - but in this process, you discover things, question and nuggets which help you stay compliant when the time is right to go in that direction.

Career Advise

This career advice is relevant to and based on my career within the Trade Compliance industry. It’s my personal opinion. Use it if you find it well.

• Interview even when you don’t need a job. Just do it. It’ll help you understand what roles are out there, what salary you should be getting, and what you need to do if you ever need to find a job for real.

• If you want a higher salary, say it. Ask for it - the best that might happen is you get a no. And if not, discuss what you can do to get a higher position or salary and be clear about your intentions with your manager. Hey, we all work for money, so what are you afraid of?

If you liked the new “Career Advise” section, don’t forget to shout-out and let me know!

See you next week!

Nadeem