The Mexican government's IMMEX program, which allows duty waivers for temporary importation before export, changed last week to exclude finished clothing and textiles in Harmonized Tariff Schedule chapters 61, 62 and 63; quilts and comforters in 9404.40; and pillows and other bedding under 9404.90.
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.
A bipartisan, bicameral bill would create a Maritime Security Trust Fund, into which revenues would come from tonnage fees on Chinese-owned and Chinese-flagged ships visiting U.S. ports, special tonnage taxes, light money, and tariffs and duties, including Section 301 tariffs.
The Commerce Department set the 12-month 2024 value-added tariff preference level for certain apparel imported directly from Haiti eligible to receive duty-free treatment under the Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity Through Partnership Encouragement Act (HOPE). For the one-year period Dec. 20, 2024, through Dec. 19, 2025, the recalculated quantity of imports eligible for preferential treatment under the value-added TPL is 322,927,229 square meters equivalent (SME). Apparel articles entered in excess of this TPL will be subject to otherwise applicable duty rates.
The Court of International Trade on Dec. 19 declined to grant victory to G&H Diversified Manufacturing on the importer's claims that CBP previously, as part of its role in granting a Section 232 duty exclusion, already said the company's imports were subject to the exclusion. Judge Timothy Reif said open questions of fact still exist with regard to the extent of CBP's role in the exclusion process.
Rep. Don Beyer, a long-time trade liberalization advocate, led a 90-minute hearing making the case against more tariffs in the second Trump administration, and Senate Budget Committee Chairman Sheldon Whitehouse, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden slammed the economic impact of campaign tariff promises as the Democrats try to use their bully pulpits in the last week before Republicans will have control at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue.
Venable lawyers said no one knows whether President-elect Donald Trump will hike tariffs on China by 10 percentage points, by 60 percentage points, or bring current tariff levels to 60%. Nor does anyone know if the threat of 25% tariffs on Canadian and Mexican exports will become reality.
Donald Trump's return to the White House brings a "lack of predictability," Baker McKenzie attorneys said during a webinar last week on how threatened tariffs could affect countries around the globe.
CBP authorized the release of most types of merchandise on or after Dec. 17 through Dec. 31 under Immediate Delivery (ID) procedures, it said in a CSMS message.
A three-judge panel at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit told the Court of International Trade that it has now twice wrongly told an importer that its first-sale price method to determine the duty level of its cookware was prohibited.
Flexport employees advised attendees on a webinar this week to prepare for a scaling back of de minimis, in case the rulemaking that removes goods subject to Section 301 tariffs moves forward.