U.S. Customs October import data released! Cosmetics and wooden furniture become the focus of seizure

2024-11-22

According to the latest data released by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), as of October 2024, the volume of imports in the United States has increased. In October, there were 3 million inbound summaries, and the value of goods exceeded the $300 billion mark in a single month for the first time since this year, reaching $308 billion. This data not only reflects the strong recovery of the U.S. economy, but also reveals the problems encountered in the import process of certain specific commodities.

Data summary from January to October

Here's a summary of data on U.S. customs seizures from January to October 2024:

Month	Value of goods seized (US $billion)
1	7.18
2	3.45
3	3.84
4	2.35
5	3.31
6	3.95
7	12.1
8	9.93
9	3.6
10	2.89

As can be seen from the above table, the value of goods seized by U.S. customs in January, July and August this year is much higher than that in other months, especially in July, when the value of goods seized exceeded $1.2 billion. Even with the increase in seizure Quantity, the average value of goods seized in July is much higher than that in other months.

Impact of July policy changes

In order to explore the reasons for the abnormally high value of seized goods in July, we found that there were two important changes in U.S. import policy in July:

U.S. enforces cosmetics FDA registration

According to the Cosmetics Regulation Modernization Act of 2022 (MoCRA) signed and passed by Biden, all domestic or foreign cosmetics production and processing companies exported to the United States must complete business registration before July 1, 2024, and the responsible person must complete product listing. Cosmetics from enterprises that fail to complete EXP on time may face risks such as deduction and refusal to enter the country.

The United States requires full declaration of wooden furniture and timber imports

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced the official implementation of the seventh phase of the Lacey Act to strengthen the supervision of imported plant products. All wooden furniture and lumber imported into the United States must be declared unless they are made entirely of composite materials. The declaration includes the scientific name, import value, Quantity rights and the name of the plant in the Great Linking country, etc.

Combined with the table data and policy changes, it can be speculated that the main commodities affected are cosmetics and wooden furniture. The value of cosmetics is generally high, which is also consistent with the data that "the average value of goods seized in July is higher".

Introduction to place names, ports and docks

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP): Responsible for border security, trade compliance, and immigration enforcement in the United States. CBP has offices at major ports and border crossings in the United States to ensure that imported and exported goods comply with relevant laws and regulations.
USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS): Responsible for protecting America's animal and plant resources from exotic pests. APHIS has checkpoints at major ports and border crossings to carry out strict inspections on imported plant products.