Issue # 6 - SOPs and Tips

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!

Training Updates

It took a lot of time to make, edit, and crunch it so you can have the best Sales Training for Customs Brokerage anyone can ever provide you. The Training is split into 2 parts. Part 1 is to teach the Sales Team some of the major topics within Trade Compliance, while Part 2 shows the Sales Team how to present themselves and what to focus on when speaking with potential clients.

I present to you the Customs Brokerage Sales Training Course - https://virktradecompliance.com/courses/customs-brokerage-sales-training-course/

If you’re interested more in Compliance Trainings - more to come on those in the near future!

Global Trade Compliance Updates

• US Section 301 Comments - The public comment docket will be closing today, Feb 21st. So, if you haven’t made any comments, it might be too late to add yourself into it.

• US trade panel strikes down dumping duties on food can steel imports.

• If Donald Trump gets re-elected, he promises more duties on Chinese products (too bad his new shoes are not America-made either).

• India cuts import duty on berries, turkey as per deal with US.

• India-Puro move onto next round of talks about Free Trade Agreement.

• UK extends duty-free trade with Ukraine for five years.

• No renewed steel agreement between the US and EU might add in $10 Billion worth of duties on imports.

• New Zealand sites issues with Canadian dairy import agreements based on CPTPP.

• China drops Australia barley tariffs after three years.

• BIS Amends the EAR To Implement Additional Sanctions Against Russia and Belarus and To Revise Existing Export Controls on Russia, Belarus and Iran.

• The U.S. government will crack down on companies that violate export rules, with stiffer penalties to deter future violations.

Compliance Tips

Compliance is a complicated issue. Not only do you have to follow it, you have to make sure that your business partners and Customs Brokers are following it as well. Some business partners are great at compliance, while others - not so much.

• If you are getting compliance advise from your Customs Broker, make sure their consulting group is differentiated from their Customs Brokerage group - if not, the line gets a bit blurry and risky.

• Make SOPs for Trade Compliance with your manufacturers. They won’t be doing everything at the beginning, but you have to start somewhere. If you introduce and push slowly, they’ll eventually get better at compliance (hopefully).

• In order to explain risk to upper management, use potential penalties and examples of companies that have gotten penalties before. Just because they haven’t been caught yet does not mean that they won’t be caught in the future or that what they are doing is okay.

• Get support for your Trade Compliance department from upper management. If they don’t provide it - run away asap. That’s what you can do for yourself.

Career Advise

• Resume Tip: Quantify the results of your effort. What better way to showcase your skills than with numbers? Recruiters and management loves numbers.

• Resume Tip: Consolidate your projects and what was involved in them. It helps recruiters see what you’re good at.

• Salary: Never provide an exact figure when interviewing for a new role - always give a range, then based on what you hear, ask for the average or above average.

• Interviews: Do as many as you can, even if you don’t want to change jobs right now. It helps you understand the market and what you need to improve on your side.

Shameless Plug

If you are studying for the U.S. Customs Broker Exam (or know of someone else that is):

This Student Portal has all the goodies to help you pass: https://virktradecompliance.circle.so/c/lectures/

This Study Guide will help the newbies a ton: https://virktradecompliance.com/product/study-guide-us-customs-broker-exam/

I also have the CBLE Exam lecture as individual to buy: https://virktradecompliance.com/customs-broker-exam/

See you next week!

Nadeem

p.s. If you’re interested in raising your personal or brand awareness within the Trade Compliance world, I help companies do that as well - reach out and let’s discuss!