The CREATE Homeland Security Center, part of the University of Southern California (USC) and funded by DHS, has released a new study “estimat[ing] the impacts of wait times at major ports of entry on the U.S. economy due to changes in customs and border officers staffing.”
In short, it shows exactly the impact that wait-times have on the Canada-U.S. economic relationship.
Check out this graphic from the report:
And below you can read the entire report.
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Media Articles, Scholarly Articles | Tagged: Border, CREATE, DHS, economy, Security, USC | 
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Posted by beyondtheborderobserver
Mondaq delivers a concise review of sequestration’s impact on U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
And Detroit local news puts a human face on CBP sequester: Detroit ABC News reports that CBP agents, while not facing layoffs, may see their paychecks reduced by 40%.
Additionally, CBP lays out what it’s priorities–i.e. what things it will shield from sequester–here, and gives other helpful information, including sequestration’s impact on imports, here.
But, for a good starting point, check out this briefing from Venable LLP attorneys Ashley W. Craig et al:
With sequestration cuts now in effect, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Deputy Commissioner David Aguilar issued guidance over the weekend about CBP’s revised operations. Like many other government agencies, CBP will be required to significantly reduce expenses during the remainder of 2013. In preparation for operating under sequestration, CBP has redirected resources toward only its most critical, core functions, and has discontinued or postponed certain important but less critical activities in an effort to reduce budget expenditures.
CBP has announced the sequestration cuts will be made equally across the agency, with no preference by port of arrival. The first, immediate cuts will reduce overtime beginning March 1, and personnel furloughs may begin in mid-April. It is estimated that CBP must reduce its work hours by the equivalent of over 5,000 border patrol agents and the equivalent of over 2,750 CBP officers.
Sequestration will significantly impact service levels in CBP’s cargo operations. CBP estimates that there may be delays up to several hours at land border crossings, significant daily back-ups for truck shipments at land border ports, passenger processing times may increase by about 50 percent, and there may be up to an additional five days added to cargo inspections at ocean ports of entry. CBP further notes that there could be some eventual delays in providing advice and rulings, as well as an impact on strategic initiatives such as the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) and the rollout of the Centers of Excellence and Expertise (CEE).
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Posted by beyondtheborderobserver
Keith Edmund White
Woodrow Wilson Center
rabble.ca and the National Post, among others, are highlighting possible delays to Beyond the Border (BTB) implementation. But, as noted by The Globe and Mail, real progress still continues on moving BTB forward.
Stuart Trew at rabble.ca discusses the impact of sequestration and “NextGen” legal issues on BTB.
From rabble.ca:
Canadian Press reports this week that if U.S. Congress cannot sort out a deal on spending cuts, “sequestration will thrust Americans into an age of austerity that threatens to bring to a halt some of the projects envisioned by Beyond the Border.” Sequestration, explains the article, “is a massive package of sweeping, automatic spending cuts to an array of U.S. federal departments and agencies set to take effect on March 1.” The “age of austerity” part may be exaggerating it a bit, but both Democrats and Republicans agree there is a real problem here.
The article quotes Canadian business lobbyists who suggest the U.S. budget cuts would most likely impact some parts of the Canada-U.S. Beyond the Border Action Plan, including:
- no expansion of, and likely cuts to, pre-clearance at airports in Canada
- a slower pace or missed deadlines on other initiatives
…
Additionally, some Beyond the Border initiatives are stalled on legal questions not related to sequestration or lack of U.S. interest.
In early February, Embassy Magazine reported that “Canadian and United States officials are facing continued delays in secretive talks to allow American law enforcement agents to cross the land border and pursue people onto Canadian soil… The program, officially known as the Next Generation of Integrated Cross-Border Law Enforcement, was supposed to be tested through two pilot projects by last summer, but as of Feb. 1 the pilot is still on hold.”
The National Post’s Mike Blanchfield hones in on sequester’s immediate impact:
“Sequester will be felt up there because there’s only a few big crossing places for trade on the Canadian-U.S.border and they’re really important crossing places,” [U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet] Napolitano said in a speech to a Washington think tank. [Note: Read Napolitano’s full speech to Brookings here.]
“In fact, trade-wise, they’re probably the No. 1 or 2 crossing places in the world. As sequester evolves and we have to furlough people who are port officers and not fill vacant positions, and not pay overtime, we’re unfortunately going to see those lines really stretch.”
If Congress fails to reach a deal to avert the cuts, Napolitano said, the jobs will be lost.
In addition to the 5,000 border patrol agents, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection is preparing to reduce its work hours by the equivalent of 2,750 inspectors as well, meaning cargo inspections at the border could drag on interminably for Canadian exporters.
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Posted by beyondtheborderobserver
Bennett Jones Thought Network
Darrel Pearson
On January 4, 2013, the federal Canadian tribunal with appellate jurisdiction relating to customs valuation, among other subjects, schooled multinationals on their obligations to meet the evidentiary burden of proof relating to declared values for duty. In particular, the tribunal found that once the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) meets its obligation to prove that an importation has taken place, the burden of proof relating to all elements of the import declaration shifts to the importer. The importer must establish that the values are as it has appraised them, and not as have been re-determined by the President of the CBSA. This is long standing law, but placed in the context of related party cross border transactions, it informs multinational importers of their particular obligations as they relate to the nature of the sale for export (i.e. which party is the vendor to the purchaser in Canada) and the potential dutiability of services rendered by the related vendor (or affiliates) to the purchaser.
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Posted by beyondtheborderobserver
CBC News
The Canadian Press
The dreaded S-word — sequestration — loomed over a Canada-U.S. conference on Beyond the Border initiatives Monday as an American official acknowledged U.S. budget woes were slowing progress on a host of fronts.
“It is fair to say we are facing some very difficult budget constraints,” Ana Hinojosa, a director at U.S. Customs and Border Protection and a member of the Beyond the Border Initiative, told the meeting.
Leave a Comment » | Media Articles | Tagged: Beyond the Border, CBC, Sequestration | Permalink
Posted by beyondtheborderobserver
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