President Donald Trump's recent threat to slap Colombia with a 25% tariff could serve as a harbinger for how he could interact with Canada, Mexico and other trading partners when it comes to tariffs, according to industry observers interviewed by International Trade Today.
With 25% tariffs on Canadian and/or Mexican goods hanging like a sword of Damocles over importers' heads, some are rushing to bring their goods in before Saturday, some are getting ACH set up for electronic transfer of payment to CBP -- and some are doing absolutely nothing.
A bipartisan bill has been introduced in the House that would require that the minimum tariff charged on Chinese goods be 35%, that tariffs higher than 35% in Column 2 of HTS be applied to some Chinese imports, 100% tariffs on hundreds of items on the Section 301 target list, and that the bound rates for U.S. tariffs, as declared at the World Trade Organization, should be changed to Column 2 for all countries.
A resident of both India and New Jersey who operated jewelry companies in New York City was sentenced Jan. 23 to 30 months in prison for leading a scheme to evade customs duties on over $13.5 million of jewelry imports, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey announced. Monishkumar Kirankumar Doshi Shah had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and operating and aiding the operation of an "unlicensed money transmitting business."
North America trade expert Dan Ujczo, from Thompson Hine, was expecting 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico to begin Jan. 20.
World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala asked members of the international trade community at the World Economic Forum to stop "hyperventilating" about proposed tariffs from the Trump administration while warning that tariffs won't bring about the desired effects.
CBP created Harmonized System Update 2503 on Jan. 22, containing 70 Automated Broker Interface (ABI) records and 10 Harmonized Tariff Schedule records. HSU 2503 includes the updated HTS Watermelon Fee for the National Watermelon Promotion Board rate assessment.
In the Jan. 15 Customs Bulletin (Vol. 59, No. 3), CBP published proposals to modify or revoke ruling letters concerning the tariff classification of women's underwear.
Former Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey, who voted against USMCA because he felt it moved too much in the direction of managed trade, told an audience at a Council on Foreign Relations event Jan. 23 that, despite all of his talk of tariffs, "a lot of folks will be surprised at the extent to which President [Donald] Trump will pursue broad, aggressive tariffs."
Tom Gould is joining Gaia Dynamics as chief strategy and compliance officer, he said on LinkedIn. The start-up advertises “AI-driven tools for precise classification and real-time tariff calculations.” Gould said he will continue his independent trade compliance consulting work.