The International Trade Commission is launching an investigation into possible additions and removals of products from the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program, it said in a May 21 press release. Conducted in response to a request from the U.S. trade representative, the investigation will inform USTR’s decisions on product eligibility in the ongoing 2020 GSP annual review. ITC and the USTR will also in the review consider whether to grant requests for de minimis and competitive need limitations waivers.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative issued some new product exclusions from Section 301 tariffs on the third list of products from China, according to a pre-publication copy of a notice posted to the agency’s website May 21 (see 2005220014). The product exclusions apply retroactively to Sept. 24, 2018, the date the tariffs on the third list took effect, and will remain in effect until Aug. 7, 2020. New Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the U.S. subheading 9903.88.48 will be used for these products.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative issued another group of product exclusions from the third group of Section 301 tariffs on goods from China. The new exclusions from the tariffs include "seventeen 10-digit HTSUS subheadings, which respond to 33 separate exclusion requests, and 61 specially prepared product descriptions, which respond to 70 separate exclusion requests," according to the notice. The product exclusions apply retroactively to Sept. 24, 2018, the date the third set of tariffs took effect. The exclusions will remain in effect until Aug. 7, 2020.
The government is considering how quickly it can get through a legislative fix to U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement implementation provisions that allow for duty refunds on post-importation preference claims, but not a refund of merchandise processing fees, said Maya Kumar, director of textiles and trade agreements at CBP. She said on May 22 that CBP officials “do not think that was the intent of the law.” Kumar, who was speaking at the National Association of Foreign-Trade Zones virtual conference, said that if it's at all possible, CBP would like to see that fixed by Congress before USMCA's entry into force July 1. “We’re trying to work with [the office of the U.S. Trade Representative] as well as Congress and see how quickly they can do that,” she said.
A machine used for mining cryptocurrency differs from computers and other electronics classified as automatic data processing machines, CBP said in an April 30 ruling. Coinmint, which imported a Bitmain Antminer S9 Bitcoin Miner in 2016, requested a CBP ruling after the agency liquidated the entry under subheading 8543.70.99, which provides for “Electrical machines and apparatus, having individual functions, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter; parts thereof: Other machines and apparatus: Other: Other: Other.” The company said the mining machine should be classified as an ADP machine.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of May 11-17:
Jewelry boxes imported by The Kalencom Corporation have an “outer surface of sheeting of plastics,” and carry a higher duty rate than paper jewelry boxes, the Court of International Trade said in a May 18 decision. Though the boxes are made of paper, the plastic films applied to that paper form the outer surface, and constitute “sheeting” despite their thinness, CIT said, over Kalencom’s objections.
A domestic labor union filed petitions on May 12 with the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission requesting new antidumping duty investigations on passenger vehicle and light truck tires from South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam, and new countervailing duties on the same product from Vietnam. Commerce will now decide whether to begin AD/CVD investigations on passenger vehicle and light truck tires that could eventually result in the assessment of AD/CV duties.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
CBP added on May 14 the ability in ACE for importers to file entries with recently excluded goods in the third tranche of Section 301 tariffs, it said in a CSMS message. The official Office of the U.S. Trade Representative notice for the exclusions was published on May 8 (see 2005050037). The exclusions are in subheading 9903.88.46. The exclusions are available for any product that meets the description in the Annex to USTR’s notice, regardless of whether the importer filed an exclusion request. The product exclusions apply retroactively to Sept. 24, 2018, and will expire after Aug. 7, 2020. The CSMS message also includes a summary of Section 301 duties that shows information on each tranche of tariffs and granted product exclusions.