UPDATE: 10/3/2023—Congress was able to avoid a government shutdown and fund all operations through November 17. How will this impact the industry? There will not be delays as anticipated.
However, please be aware that the short-term spending bill that passed only funds the government through November 17. We may find ourselves back in the same position of a looming government shutdown as we draw closer to the November 17 deadline.
Mohawk Global will monitor the situation closely and keep you informed as new information becomes available. If you have any questions, please contact your Mohawk Global representative.
Likely to happen on October 1, the government could be shut down, which will have a direct impact on how imports and exports are processed throughout the nation’s ports.
Here is a quick list of things that you need to know:
- Essential government personnel will continue to work during the shutdown, without pay. This group includes front-line Customs Border Protection (CBP) officers as well as import and entry specialists. National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America (NCBFAA) is working to make sure Partner Government Agencies (PGA), as well as Commerce—for steel and aluminum licenses—are also deemed essential to ensure the smooth flow of commerce during the shutdown.
- NCBFAA is working with CBP to create a “war room”, like the one established during the last government shutdown. This will facilitate actions to keep goods moving. This war room will have representatives from CBP, the PGAs, and the Trade.
- Mohawk Global is engaged in the activities of NCBFAA by our involvement in the Customs Committee and Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) sub-committee. Rich Roche and I are both actively engaged in NCBFAA’s efforts to keep lines of communication open during this shutdown.
- We hope this shutdown will not have a significant impact on our clients, but we should be aware that there may be ripple effects, as essential personnel call in sick or certain agencies are not deemed essential. We will be monitoring this situation closely, but it is difficult to anticipate what kinds of issues may arise.
- How long will this shutdown last? There is no real way to know, we suspect that it will be one to two weeks and will not likely last beyond 30 days. I have spoken with some Washington DC insiders, and they agree with my timeline, but we are all guessing at best.
We are doing all we can under difficult circumstances to ensure that your shipments continue to move normally. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to your Mohawk Global representative.