10+2 will cost US$20 billion a year, add 3 days to transits: US manufacturers

A US manufacturers' study says 10+2 US Customs and Border Protection procedures will cost the American economy US$20 billion a year and add three days to average global transit times.

"The potential impact is huge," said National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) president John Engler. "It is the equivalent of doubling the import tariffs that manufacturers now pay to bring products and components into the United States."

The "10+2" regulation will require manufacturers and other importers to provide new data to US Customs, says a report by the Customs and Border Coalition, a group launched by the NAM to ensure business factors are weighed when state agencies devise security rules on exports and imports.

The coalition report, which backed up an earlier NAM study, surveyed companies responsible for 60 per cent of imported sea freight manufactures.

Companies of all sizes will be hit by 10+2, said the study, adding that compliance will disrupt supply chains, impose $3.5 billion in extra annual costs and add nearly three days to average global transits, racking up an extra $17 billion in annual costs, which when all combined, exceed $20 billion a year.

Mr Engler said his group has provided the government with "practical and actionable recommendations for modifications that will reduce the cost of the new customs rule without diminishing national security", reported Newark's Journal of Commerce. "Department of Homeland Security Secretary [Janet] Napolitano has already shown she is sensitive to the need for US economic security as well as national security, and we believe our recommendations will get careful consideration," he said.

(Source: Transport Weekly)