ACE and U.S. Customs in 2013: The Latest Regulations and Updates (3-Part Series)
    A Zepol guest blog by John M. Peterson, international trade/Customs law expert and partner at Neville Peterson LLP


    But, perhaps, not for much longer…

It is Customs’ Automated Commercial System (ACS), currently being transitioned into the agency’s online Automated Commercial Environment (ACE). Although the ACE transition is years behind schedule, and billions of dollars over budget, the operational parts of the system are one of the most powerful engines of business intelligence data in the world. As ACE comes closer to full operational capability, the system’s potential is breathtaking.

With a touch of a few buttons, Customs officials can see almost every aspect of a company’s import activities – the commodities they import, the identities of their suppliers, the prices they pay, the ports of entry they use, the names of their brokers, forwarders, carriers and service providers, and scores of other data points.

When Customs auditors come to review a company’s import operations, they bring with them a profile of the company that rivals, in terms of quality and detail, the finest work of Wall Street industry analysts.

Although, those elephants wouldn’t be Asian, but rather Irish, because for once the leading supplier of something isn’t China. The top country exporting organic chemicals to the United States is actually Ireland. Ireland shipped about $11.7 billion worth of organic chemicals to the United States in 2012 and China’s exports were about $6.4 billion.

So what are organic chemicals and what’s so Irish about them? The U.S. trade commission classifies organic chemicals under chapter 29 of the harmonized tariff schedule (HTS) and Webster defines them as any chemical containing carbon. The leading organic chemicals imported include aromatic compounds used as drugs, cardiovascular drugs, lactam products and much more. So basically, it’s a lot of carbon-based drugs and Ireland produces a significant amount of them.

Rare earth metals aren’t so much rare as they are a nightmare to extract and in the past two years, EXPENSIVE. The problem with the useful little elements is the mining process, which is extremely damaging to the environment, making many countries less than keen on doing it themselves... the old N.I.M.B.Y. (Not In My BackYard) mentality.

China has been one of the few countries willing to take on the environmental risks of mining which has made it a major supplier of rare earth metals across the globe.

So what happens when China decides to cut back? Well, the price skyrockets and major consumers like the United States have to find alternative suppliers.

Zepol searched some rare earth metal HTS codes in its TradeView database (composed of U.S. Census imports and exports) and found some interesting stats:

• France has become a major supplier of rare earth metals to the United States in the past year. In 2011 the country supplied over $56 million worth and in 2012 (January-November) it exported over $105 million.
• The highest price increase for rare earth metals was HTS code 28.05.300000 (Scandium and Yttrium, whether or Not Intermixed Or Interalloyed). It went from $6.38/KG in 2008 to $172.12 in 2011.
• From 2007-2011, the United States has actually reduced the amount of rare earth metals it imports by 50%, although the total price for the goods has gone up 533%.

HTS Code	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	*2012
2805300000 - Rare Earth Metals, Scandium and Yttrium	$8.54	$6.38	$22.18	$29.11	$172.12	$109.97
2846908000 - Compounds, Inorganic/Organic Yttrium/Scandium	$4.99	$8.88	$8.91	$15.63	$78.32	$70.29
2846902010 - Rare Earth Oxides Except Cerium Oxide	$5.11	$9.53	$4.81	$6.67	$38.28	$27.93
2846100000 - Cerium Compounds	$3.44	$4.61	$3.31	$6.68	$24.58	$14.80
2846902050 - Mixtures of Rare Earth Chlorides	$3.10	$5.81	$5.05	$5.49	$54.64	$13.95
2846904000 - Contain Wt. Gt 19% But Lt 85% Yttrium Oxide	$19.47	$61.79	$25.89	$12.16	$32.94	$11.63
Average $/KG	$4.60	$7.79	$6.35	$10.01	$55.62	$35.73

*2012-Data represents January-November 

Thousands of people from around the world are logging in to Zepol’s platform each month. Whether they are investigating a competitor’s import activities, identifying new suppliers overseas, or generating new leads, at any given moment, Zepol’s platform is offering valuable insights.

So, what are all those users really searching on? Below we have outlined the top 10 products that users have searched for in the past month. Happy searching!