Section 232 Duties on Copper and Its Derivatives Seem More Thought Out, Trade Expert Says
The Section 232 tariffs on copper and its derivatives appear to have been developed under a greater understanding of how U.S. manufacturing works, according to trade expert Cindy Allen, who appeared on an Aug. 1 "Simply Trade" podcast episode to discuss the numerous U.S. trade actions that occurred last week.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
"We were all expecting this to be a very encompassing 232 [tariff], especially based on some of the investigation language that we've seen. However, there were a lot of carve-outs. Not a lot of raw copper material is going to be covered," Allen said. "A lot of the derivatives and component products are going to be covered, but there seems to be an understanding that the domestic industries need a free flow of copper, especially in its raw form, to support manufacturing here in the U.S. I think it's one of the first small positive steps we've seen in the analysis for any of these trade actions. It was a more in-depth understanding of what these tariffs are really doing to domestic manufacturing."
In addition to discussing the copper tariffs, changes in duty rates for reciprocal tariffs, the rate hikes for Canada and Brazil, and the end of de minimis on Aug. 29, Allen noted the challenges that the U.S. Postal Service may have in collecting duties. This is because the movement of international mail and international packages is governed by an international treaty that defines how countries' postal services should treat international mail and packages, according to Allen.
As a result, in the interim, mail carriers will need to have a bond for international mail that otherwise would have been declared as de minimis, Allen continued.
Indeed, according to President Donald Trump's July 30 executive order, transportation carriers that are delivering postal packages from abroad must collect and remit the duties, and they must apply the flat fee or the Harmonized Tariff Schedule-based tariffs across all covered shipments. Transportation carriers may change their approach once a month, "or on another schedule determined to be appropriate by CBP, upon providing at least 24 hours’ notice to CBP" (see 2507300046).
Meanwhile, although there haven't been a lot of changes to CBP personnel beyond the appointment of CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott, "we haven't seen the large-scale changes that some of us anticipated once he came into play," Allen said.
However, there are some studies being conducted internally at CBP over whether CBP's Office of Field Operations and the Office of Trade should function as one office, as it had previously functioned before DHS was formed, according to Allen.
"We are looking and watching to see if there is forward movement on that," Allen said, noting that Congress would need to give its approval for such a move.