With so much uncertainty occurring with U.S. import regulations, companies should develop multiple strategies that address potentially different tariff outcomes, with some strategies being deployed in the short-term and others being deployed further down the road as the geopolitical situation becomes more clear, according to trade experts with professional services firm KPMG.
The three judges assigned to the case challenging President Donald Trump's use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act -- Jane Restani, Gary Katzmann and Timothy Reif -- may be poised to rein in the administration's use of the act to impose tariffs, various attorneys told us. Based on their prior jurisprudence and professional backgrounds, the attorneys said, it seems likely the trio may pare back Trump's tariff-setting authority, though it's ultimately unclear to what extent.
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With the White House announcing this week the end of the de minimis exemption for goods made in China starting next month, the U.S. will need to have the customs and trade infrastructure in place to handle significantly higher volumes of formal and informal entries, said Bernie Hart, vice president of customs for logistics provider Flexport.
The White House released a pre-publication copy of President Donald Trump’s executive order on reciprocal tariffs, with Annex III to the order detailing Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheadings that will be used for the tariffs that take effect at 12:01 a.m. on April 5 and on April 9.
Drawback will be available on recently announced reciprocal tariffs that take effect April 5 and April 9, CBP confirmed in an emailed CSMS message providing guidance on the tariffs. “Drawback is available with respect to the additional duties imposed pursuant to the Executive Order,” the CSMS message said.
The White House quietly released Annex III to President Donald Trump’s executive order on reciprocal tariffs yesterday, detailing Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheadings that will be used for the tariffs that take effect at 12:01 a.m. April 5 and April 9.
A day after President Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs upon dozens of trading partners, including countries that the U.S. has historically had friendly relations with, customs brokers and importers have numerous questions, such as whether ACE has the ability to verify values accurately and what role drawback might have as companies respond to the tariffs.
The U.S. will impose additional 10% tariffs on most imports, but not on Mexican and Canadian goods, information goods like books, music or films, or any goods either subject to Section 232 tariffs or among goods that Trump is considering protecting under Section 232, including pharmaceuticals, copper, lumber, semiconductors, certain critical minerals, and energy and energy products.
To date, no major lawsuits challenging any of the new tariff actions taken by President Donald Trump have been filed. The reasons for that include high legal hurdles to success and inconsistency in the implementation of the tariffs, trade lawyers told us.