More than 3,500 Section 301 complaints have inundated the U.S. Court of International Trade challenging the lawfulness of the lists 3 and 4A tariffs on Chinese imports, “and there’s likely more to come,” trade lawyer John Brew of Crowell & Moring told a Sports and Fitness Industry Association webinar Jan. 26.
Customs duty
A customs duty is a tariff or tax which a country imposes on goods when they are transported across international borders. Customs Duties are used to protect countries' economies, residents, jobs, and environments, by limiting the flow of imported merchandise, especially restricted and prohibited goods, into the country. The Customs duty rate is a percentage determined by the value of the article purchased in the foreign country and not based on quality, size, or weight. U.S. customs duties are listed in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States.
CBP published notices in the Customs Bulletin revoking or modifying numerous rulings in 2020. These ruling revocations and modifications also apply to “any treatment previously accorded by CBP to substantially identical transactions.” When revoking or modifying a ruling, CBP is required by 19 USC 1625(c) to publish notice of the proposed action, and allow a period—generally one month—for comment before finalizing the action. An importer’s failure to advise CBP of “substantially identical transactions” or of a ruling not identified by CBP in these notices “may raise issues of reasonable care on the part of the importer or its agents for importations of merchandise subsequent to the effective date of this notice.” Rulings CBP revoked or modified in 2020 are as follows:
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from Jan. 11-15 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
Ramped up import enforcement efforts are likely here to stay under President Joe Biden, Sidley Austin's Ted Murphy said in an email. The multi-agency effort to crack down on import violations is expected to continue unencumbered and Murphy views these efforts as not administration-specific, particularly dealing with questions of forced labor, Section 301 tariff evasion and USMCA compliance.
Safeguard duties on large residential washers entered under a tariff-rate quota will fall to 15% on Feb. 8, 2021, and then 14% on Feb. 8, 2022, before the newly extended safeguards expire after Feb. 7, 2023, according to annexes to a presidential proclamation released Jan. 19 for publication in the Jan. 21 Federal Register.
The U.S. and Vietnam held “consultations” Dec. 23 on allegations that Hanoi deliberately devalued the dong against the dollar to the detriment of American commercial interests, it was disclosed in the Section 301 investigative report from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative ruling out tariffs on Vietnamese goods in the final days of the Trump administration (see 2101150053). The report shared nothing about the substance of the previously unknown talks, held roughly a week before USTR convened a virtual hearing Dec. 29 into Vietnam’s alleged currency misbehavior. Agency representatives made no mention of the consultations during the hearing.
President Donald Trump extended and adjusted the Section 201 safeguards on washing machines, he said in a Jan. 14 proclamation. The tariff-rate quotas on washers and washer parts will continue for another two years with some changes, he said. The safeguards were put in place in January 2018 and were originally to last three years (see 1801230052).
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from Jan. 4-8 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The procedural stalemate in the Section 301 lawsuits inundating the U.S. Court of International Trade is traceable to Chief Judge Timothy Stanceu and his staff “really looking at everything very carefully,” Grunfeld Desiderio partner Ned Marshak said in an interview. His firm has filed about 800 of the 3,700 complaints, including a case filed Jan. 6 on behalf of flooring company R.A. Siegel based on a two-year statute of limitations running from a 2019 date of liquidation. All the complaints seek to vacate the lists 3 and 4A tariff rulemakings and get the duties refunded. Most of the actions based timeliness within the two-year statute of limitations dating to when List 3 was published in the Federal Register or when the tariffs took effect on Sept. 24, 2018. Fewer based the two-year window on dating to when List 3 tariffs were first paid.
New 25% percent tariffs on goods from France that were to begin Jan. 6 are suspended, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said in a news release Jan. 7. The tariffs were planned as a result of France's digital services tax and the suspension will allow the agency to complete investigations into other countries' DSTs. “Given that these DST investigations are ongoing and have not yet reached any determinations on what, if any, trade action should be taken, the U.S. Trade Representative has determined that it is appropriate to suspend the action in the France DST investigation indefinitely,” it said in a notice. The announcement follows days of confusion over whether the Jan. 6 tariffs were being implemented (see 2101060047).