CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
CBP has created Harmonized Systems Updates 2505 and 2506. HSU 2505, created on Feb. 3, contains 84 Automated Broker Interface (ABI) records and 32 Harmonized Tariff Schedule records. It also includes the China/Hong Kong HTS updates.
In the Jan. 29 Customs Bulletin (Vol. 59 No. 5), CBP published proposals to modify and/or revoke ruling letters concerning the tariff classification of propafenone hydrochloride and certain earrings with cubic zirconia.
CBP said it no longer will allow for retroactive treatment for products made in China and Hong Kong that came in after the administration's Feb. 5 executive order temporarily reinstating de minimis, according to a Federal Register notice. The order wasn't publicly announced until Feb. 7 (see 2502070052).
In the fourth week of the second Trump administration, businesses awaited the details of what a reciprocal tariff approach could be -- and how fast the tariff schedule could be altered to have a different rate for every product that the U.S. exports to countries at a higher rate than the U.S. most-favored nation rate.
President Trump signed an executive order Feb. 10 that will hike tariffs on imported aluminum to 25%, ends quota arrangements with the EU, South Korea and Brazil in steel and aluminum, and curtails both product exclusions and the exemptions for Canada and Mexico.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Feb. 10 that will hike tariffs on imported aluminum to 25%, ends quota arrangements with the EU, South Korea and Brazil in steel and aluminum, and curtails both product exclusions and the exemptions for Canada and Mexico.
President Donald Trump, speaking to reporters on Air Force 1 on Feb. 9, said he will impose 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum from all countries. Most countries' aluminum is currently subject to 10% tariffs, with Canada and Mexico exempted from Section 232 steel and aluminum duties. He did not say when the tariff changes would take effect.
Forbes Tate Partners hired a former trade adviser to Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., to join its government relations team to expand the firm's tariff, tax, economic, and financial technology areas. The firm's founding partners said Tori Smith "maintains robust connections throughout Congress and the Executive Branch." Blackburn is a member of the Senate Finance Committee.
Four senators, two from each party, reintroduced a bill that would authorize the U.S. trade representative, in consultation with Congress about objectives, to negotiate specialized trade agreements focused on critical minerals and rare earth elements. Those trade agreements also would need to get a vote of approval from Congress before they could enter into force.