International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from April 19-23 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
Section 301 tariff exclusions
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has established an exclusion process for Section 301 tariffs on China. In a series of rounds since the tariffs took effect, importers have been able to request exclusions from the tariffs, as well as extensions to existing exclusions. Many exclusions have been allowed to expire, as well. Section 301 exclusions are applicable to all importers of a given good, which may be defined as an entire tariff schedule subheading or a subset of a subheading outlined in a written description.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced a technical correction that allows refunds for products exported after the tariffs were hiked from 10% to 25% but on the water at the time the increase was announced. The notice, set for Federal Register publication April 26, says goods that left China before May 10, 2019, and entered the U.S. before June 15, 2019, and are covered by a Section 301 exclusion, are now excluded.
A witness at a Senate Finance Committee hearing on China and trade competitiveness told senators that if the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill and his company's Section 301 exclusion aren't granted retroactively, Element Electronics would be forced to move production out of the U.S.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of April 12-18:
The Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods imposed under President Donald Trump had “a significant impact” on Panasonic North America, Jeff Werner, vice president-corporate and government affairs, told the Consumer Technology Association virtual Innovation Policy Summit April 14. “We did everything we could to sort of mitigate that, including a robust use of the exclusions process,” he said.
The president of the U.S.-China Business Council told an online audience of customs brokers that he sees them as the problem solvers in trade, and that they're going to continue to have plenty of problems to tackle over the next few years. Craig Allen, who spoke to the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America April 14, said that the U.S.-China relationship, while intensely interdependent economically, is marked by mistrust and antagonism, and “the trend lines are not good.”
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of April 5-11:
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from April 5-9 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
Christopher Kane, partner at Simon Gluck, expressed optimism over a recent U.S. Court of International Trade ruling striking down an extension of President Donald Trump's Section 232 tariffs to aluminum and steel derivatives (see 2104050049). He believes the ruling spells good news for the massive litigation involving more than 3,700 companies challenging the expansion of the Section 301 tariffs on goods from China. Although based on a different law, Kane believes CIT's April 5 ruling demonstrates the court's willingness to hold the president to account over laws and regulations. In the case of the derivatives, the tariff expansion was eliminated because it was imposed after a 105-day period during which the president can impose Section 232 tariffs after receiving a report on the need for the duties from the Commerce Department.
As the U.S. Fashion Industry Association's representatives in Washington try to find out timing for a renewal of the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program, Senate Finance Committee staff members are telling them “there’s a lack of urgency with respect to this” among senators. David Spooner, Washington counsel for USFIA, told an online audience March 30 that Congress seems to think that since importers will get refunds for goods that should have qualified for GSP during this period once it's renewed, it's no big deal. “But we know what a pain in the rear the retroactive renewals are,” he said.