Senate Democrats Call on CBP to Boost Staff at West Coast Ports
CBP should boost its staff levels at several California and Washington State ports to tackle ongoing commercial backlogs following slowdowns and a number of shutdowns over recent months, said four Democratic senators in an April 2 letter to Homeland Security…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
Secretary Jeh Johnson (here). Sens. Sherrod Brown, Ohio, Maria Cantwell, Wash., Richard Blumenthal, Conn., and Tammy Baldwin, Wis., signed the letter. “According to port officials in Los Angeles and Long Beach, dozens of ships with thousands of cargo containers are waiting to be unloaded, and clearing them will take three months,” said the letter, which also urged staff increases at the Seattle port. “Additional CBP personnel at these ports will increase the number of inspections that can be completed and speed up the processing of the containers.” The lawmakers applauded the 2,000 additional CBP officers that President Barack Obama paved the way for in his 2016 budget. CBP should also collaborate with Congress to prioritize port improvements, the letter said. Despite a recent labor agreement, West Coast port operations have continued to be slow as the ports deal with a backlog of goods (see 1502240004).