Powering Performance

As the only industry-endorsed training of its kind, AIAG’s USMCA Content Reporting course was developed by a highly qualified group of volunteers from numerous OEMs, heavy truck manufacturers, and Tier 1 suppliers, along with guidance from trusted trade compliance experts.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a CTPAT alert late January warning of cyber threats arising from many CTPAT members working from home during the pandemic. CBP stated that harmful individuals may try to exploit weaknesses associated with remote work, such as email phishing attacks with malicious links.

Christopher Swift, JD, PhD, is a partner and litigator with Foley & Lardner LLP, specializing in international and national security practices, where he counsels clients on a variety of trade-related issues. Dr. Swift recently spoke to AIAG’s Export Compliance Advisory Group (ECAG), providing important updates on current export compliance issues and concerns. The AIAG ECAG group collaborates to share industry knowledge and create best-in-class programs for effective export compliance in the automotive and related spaces. The committee reviews changing export regulations and critical elements of effective export compliance procedures, sharing training and development opportunities throughout the industry.

In 2020, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. Department of the Treasury ramped up their efforts targeting companies around the world that are benefiting from forced labor.

Sometime in the next few days hundreds of millions of Chinese workers will get on trains, buses and for the lucky, planes, to return to their hometowns and families for the Chinese Lunar New Year celebration.

Tom Swennes is a logistics and supply chain executive with over 28 years in finished automotive logistics. With a longstanding tie to AIAG, he has served as a volunteer since 2008. Swennes has been a leader in AIAG’s Visibility of Finished Vehicles Initiative (VOFV) — helping to develop event reporting standard across the finished vehicle supply chain — and is currently a member of AIAG’s Finished Vehicles Advisory Group. With both a systems and a sales background, as well as extensive operational experience at the OEM level, Swennes offers a unique perspective on the challenges facing automotive logistics professionals.

As the automotive trade compliance community dives into the second year of USMCA qualification and the corresponding supplier solicitation process, numerous challenges and new questions have arisen around what has changed, what best practices now exist, and what steps are required to qualify goods under USMCA.

As the automotive trade compliance community dives into the second year of USMCA qualification and the corresponding supplier solicitation process, numerous challenges exist as well as new questions around what has changed, including:

• What are the necessary steps to qualify goods under USMCA?
• Which best practices have been identified and what are the steps and processes involved?
• What is expected of us by our OEM or Tier I customers?

In response to requests from OEMs and their service providers, AIAG's Finished Vehicle Logistics Team is launching its new Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) workgroup this month!  

Offered by Wayne State University in cooperation with AIAG, this non-degree certificate program was designed to provide participants with an in-depth understanding of supply chain issues in the context of the global automotive industry.