Section 301 China tariff changes outlined by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative May 14 will take effect approximately 90 days after a request for comments that will be issued next week. That includes a 100% tariff on Chinese-origin electric vehicles, as well as the jump to 25% Section 301 tariffs on steel and aluminum products, ship to shore cranes, lithium-ion electric vehicle batteries, battery parts for non-lithium-ion batteries, "some critical minerals" and face masks, and a bump to 50% tariffs on solar cells, syringes and needles, the White House said in a fact sheet.
The final price EMA Professional Services Corp. pays to its suppliers for precious metal bars after importation is determined according to "an acceptable formula" and meets the "'price actually paid or payable'" standard for purposes of the transaction value method, CBP said. EMA may report any price adjustments through the ACE Reconciliation Program, the agency said in an April 19 customs ruling.
The Court of International Trade on May 9 allowed a case to proceed against the Commerce Department's pause of antidumping and countervailing duties on Southeast Asian solar panels, rejecting motions to dismiss from the government and nine solar cell importers and exporters.
Trade groups, companies and a union that represent the aluminum and steel sectors told the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative that they need more protection from import competition, by expansion of the scope of Section 232 tariffs, and by re-negotiation of the rules of origin in both trade agreements and the Section 232 exclusion for Canada and Mexico.
Shein, an apparel e-commerce platform that has been in the crosshairs of the House Select Committee on China (see 2305030077) U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission (see 2304140034), is ramping up its staffing for compliance, according to a memo sent to International Trade Today by a person close to Shein.
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
A bill that would impose new requirements for e-commerce platforms to detect and police counterfeits, Shop Safe (Stopping Harmful Offers on Platforms by Screening Against Fakes in E-commerce), will be moving through the House Judiciary Committee "in the next few weeks," Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said May 7. Issa, who chairs Judiciary's Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet, spoke to International Trade Today after a hearing his subcommittee held on the administration's response to counterfeits.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Jason Smith and Trade Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Adrian Smith called out U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai for the lengthy wait for the Section 301 tariffs review, which officially started in July 2022 after a round of comments that year in May in favor of extending the action.
The subcommittee that covers intellectual property issues under the House Judiciary Committee questioned how Congress should address the escalating volume of de minimis packages -- and the opportunities those shipments provide for sending counterfeits and goods made with forced labor, but the CBP witness responsible for de minimis and IP declined to back any of the ideas that were bandied about.
The Mediterranean Shipping Company denied allegations by the Federal Maritime Commission that it knowingly violated U.S. shipping laws, calling a proposed $63.2 million FMC penalty "excessive and unlawful.”