New Section 201 safeguard duties on residential washers and on solar cells and modules take effect for entries on or after 12:01 a.m. on Feb. 7, said two presidential proclamations signed by President Donald Trump on Jan. 23. Beginning on Feb. 7, imports of residential washers and solar cells that fall under the scope of the safeguard duties will be subject to tariff-rate quotas that will remain in effect, unless modified, for a period of three or four years, respectively (see 1801230052). Residential washers and solar cells and modules admitted into foreign-trade zones on or after that date must be admitted as “privileged foreign status,” and will be subject to the TRQs upon entry for consumption, the proclamations said. International Trade Today will have more details on the scope of the safeguard duties once the proclamations are published, along with their annexes, in the Federal Register.
President Donald Trump on Jan. 23 imposed new Section 201 safeguard tariffs on imports of large residential washers and solar cells and modules, marking the first use of the provision since safeguards were imposed on steel products in 2002. Both of the new safeguards take the form of tariff-rate quotas, with duties on out-of-quota washers starting at 50% and in-quota washers at 20%, and duties on out-of-quota solar cells and modules starting at 30% with in-quota solar cells exempt. Imports from free trade agreement partners, including Canada and Mexico, are mostly covered by the safeguard duties, though Canadian washers will benefit from an exemption.
The Trump administration will accept public input on recommendations from the International Trade Commission for potential trade remedies that might be imposed after the ITC reached an affirmative injury determination in its Section 201 safeguard investigation on large residential washers, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said. The ITC's final report is due to the White House Dec. 4. President Donald Trump will then have about two months to adopt or reject the ITC’s recommendations, or opt to set other trade restrictions. USTR will accept written comments through Dec. 11, and written responses to the initial round of comments through Dec. 18, including from domestic producers, importers, exporters or other interested parties, USTR said. Further, the interagency Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) will hold a public hearing on the matter on Jan. 3, 2018.
The International Trade Commission will recommend a tariff-rate quota on all imports of large residential washers as part of its Section 201 safeguard investigation, it said in Nov. 21 a press release. The ITC’s four sitting commissioners unanimously said President Donald Trump should implement a three-year tariff-rate quota, with large residential washers imported above a threshold of 1.2 million units subject to a 50 percent rate of duty in year one, decreasing to 45 percent in year two and 40 percent in year three.
The International Trade Commission published notices in the Nov. 16 Federal Register on the following AD/CV injury, Section 337 patent and other trade proceedings (any notices that warrant a more detailed summary will be in another ITT article):
The International Trade Commission on Oct. 31 announced recommendations for additional tariffs and quotas that it will forward to President Donald Trump as part of its Section 201 safeguard investigation on crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells, the ITC said in a press release. Three of the four commissioners recommended new tariff rate quotas on solar cells, as well as additional tariffs on solar panels, set to decrease each year the safeguards remain in effect, with exemptions for certain countries that have free trade agreements with the U.S.
The Trump administration will accept public input on forthcoming recommendations from the International Trade Commission for potential trade remedies that might be imposed after the ITC reached an affirmative injury determination in its Section 201 safeguard investigation on crystalline silicon photovoltaic (CSPV) cells, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said. The ITC is expected to send its final report by Nov. 13. President Donald Trump will then have about two months to adopt or reject the ITC’s recommendations, or opt to set other trade restrictions. USTR will accept written comments through Nov. 20, and written responses to the initial round of comments through Nov. 29, including from domestic producers, importers, exporters or other interested parties, USTR said. Further, the interagency Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) will hold a public hearing on the matter on Dec. 6.
It’s unclear whether U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement (CFTA) provisions related to drawback, certificates of origin and import relief measures would spring back into force if the U.S. withdraws from NAFTA, according to a recent Q&A posted by the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America. NAFTA Implementation Act Section 107 states that some CFTA provisions will remain suspended until the suspension itself is terminated. This could mean that those suspensions would, by default, remain active in any post-NAFTA world, even though Canada and the U.S. formally agreed through a January 1993 exchange of letters to broadly suspend the operation of CFTA when NAFTA took effect, with the suspension “to remain in effect for such time as the two governments are Parties to NAFTA,” the NCBFAA said.
The International Trade Commission published notices in the Oct. 18 Federal Register on the following AD/CV injury, Section 337 patent and other trade proceedings (any notices that warrant a more detailed summary will be in another ITT article):
The International Trade Commission reached an affirmative injury determination in its Section 201 safeguard investigation on large residential washers, the ITC announced Oct. 5. Section 201 allows the president to impose tariffs or other import restrictions on all imports of products the ITC finds to injure U.S. industry. The investigation now moves to a remedy phase, where the ITC will hold a hearing on Oct. 19 to determine what remedies should be imposed, and is expected to send the president its final report -- to include potential recommendations for remedial action -- by Dec. 4. The ITC is expected to vote on what relief to recommend to the White House to address the injury of large residential washer imports to U.S. industry, Whirlpool said in a statement. President Donald Trump will then have about two months to adopt or reject the ITC’s recommendations, or opt to set other trade restrictions.