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.
Importer Hellbender filed a complaint at the Court of International Trade on June 6 arguing that its electronic components are of Taiwanese origin, not Chinese origin, and are thus exempt from Section 301 duties (Hellbender v. United States, CIT # 24-00104).
CBP updated its recent guidance on Section 232 tariffs to remove tariff schedule numbers that had apparently been erroneously included as subject to steel and aluminum tariffs.
In attachments to a pair of recent CSMS messages (see 2506040053), CBP listed the following new tariff schedule subheadings as subject to 50% Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs, even though these tariff subheadings aren’t found in the list of subheadings subject to the 50% tariffs in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule:
CBP will be increasing the number of Harmonized Tariff Schedule numbers allowed per entry summary line in ACE from eight to 32, the agency said in a June 6 cargo systems message.
Expert witnesses testified that the Harmonized Tariff Schedule code needs to be refined so that different sizes of semiconductor chips have their own numbers, and, more radically, suggested that the best way to mitigate overdependence on China for legacy chips is to require importers to report where the chips were designed and fabricated within products they are importing.
As importers respond to swift changes in the deployment of Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum (see 2506030071), they should continue to follow due diligence protocols for entry filing -- and that means even when CBP's guidance on additional subheadings for Section 232 steel and aluminum duties doesn't fully align with what's in official documents, such as the Federal Register, multiple customs attorneys told International Trade Today.
CBP created Harmonized System Update 2521 on June 4, containing 73 Automated Broker Interface records and 35 Harmonized Tariff Schedule records. HSU 2521 includes Section 232 Aluminum and Steel tariff adjustments effective June 4.
CBP issued a pair of CSMS messages late June 3 clarifying the changes to the steel and aluminum tariffs.
CBP listed new Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheadings as subject to now 50% Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum derivatives, in attachments to its CSMS messages issued late June 3 offering guidance on the tariff increase.