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.
Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, who warned the White House that reducing the scope of the Section 301 tariff list or reducing tariff levels "could undermine efforts to shore up our domestic manufacturing and supply chains," said he doesn't know the details of what products might leave the target list if the White House hikes tariffs on electric vehicles or their batteries.
Australia's tariff rate quota limits for 2024 for beef, dairy products, avocados, peanuts and tobacco were announced by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative in a Federal Register notice released Jan. 8.
The chairman and ranking member of the House Select Committee on China asked the commerce secretary and the U.S. trade representative to use "all existing trade authorities" to hike tariffs on Chinese legacy chips, including those already incorporated into consumer goods, they said in an emailed news release.
CBP created Harmonized System Update (HSU) 2400 Jan. 5, containing 397 ABI records and 77 Harmonized Tariff Schedule records, as well as HSU 2401 on Jan. 8, containing 383 ABI records and 73 Harmonized Tariff Records. HSU 2400 and 2401 include the missing 2024 HTS updates that were part of the end of year 484(f) changes, CBP said in a CSMS message on Jan. 8.
An importer's entries are subject to Section 232 tariffs because the vessel arrival date transmitted in ACE by the ship's captain came after the tariffs took effect on June 1, 2018, despite the importer's claim -- backed by different documentation -- that the goods actually arrived in port and had a date of entry prior to that date, CBP said in a recent ruling.
Coalition for a Prosperous America, an organization that has been arguing that de minimis should only apply to gifts and goods brought by consumers as they return from abroad (see 2312140046), wants to kill the Customs Modernization Act of 2023, the bipartisan bill introduced in the Senate that would update CBP authorities in a number of areas (see 2312110048).
CBP will on Feb. 15 begin deactivating some Section 232 exclusions when they reach 95% of capacity, addressing concerns in a recent Government Accountability Office report that duties were going unpaid because the agency was letting importers exceed their exclusion limits (see 2307210064).
The International Trade Commission posted the 2024 Basic Edition of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule. The new HTS implements the restoration of AGOA benefits for Mauritania and their removal for the Central African Republic, Gabon, Niger and Uganda, as well as a lengthy list of 10-digit-level changes for fruits and vegetables, chemicals, medicaments and recycled aluminum. Changes were effective as of Jan. 1 unless otherwise noted.
Correction: Changes to the tariff schedule resulting from the addition and removal of countries from African Growth and Opportunity Act benefits also affected various other notes in the tariff schedule beyond General Note 16, including U.S. Note 7(a) to Subchapter II of Chapter 98 and U.S. Notes 1 and 2(d) to Subchapter XIX of Chapter 98 (see 2401020049).