The Court of International Trade on Sept. 2 declined to order the release of an importer’s entries that were detained by CBP on country of origin concerns, finding the uncertainty around its own contradictory line of cases on substantial transformation was a factor in denying the bid for a preliminary injunction.
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.
More than half of all exclusions from list four Section 301 China tariffs are set to expire Sept. 1, after the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative declined to extend them in the run-up to their expiration. USTR granted extensions to 87 of the more than 200 list four exclusions published to date.
Over half of all exclusions from list four Section 301 China tariffs are now set to expire Sept. 1, after the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative did not include them in a notice of extensions released the day before their slated expiration. In the notice, USTR granted extensions until Dec. 31 to only 87 of the over 200 list four exclusions published to date. That leaves over 100 exclusions to expire on schedule.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Aug. 17-23:
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will exclude two more products from the third list of Section 301 tariffs on products from China, it said in a notice released Aug. 21. The exclusions will apply retroactively to Sept. 24, 2018, the date the tariffs on the third list took effect, and through Aug. 7, 2020, it said. The new exclusions will fall under previously created subheading 9903.88.48.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Aug. 3-9:
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is requesting comments on whether new tariff exclusions granted to Chinese imports on Section 301 List 4 that are set to expire Sept. 1 (see 2008060008) should be extended for up to another year, it said in a notice released Aug. 10. The agency is already accepting comments on previously granted extensions that expire on Sept. 1 (see 2007150036). The comments are due by Aug. 20, it said. Each exclusion will be evaluated independently. The evaluation's focus will be on whether, despite the first imposition of these additional duties, the particular product remains available only from China. The companies are required to post a public rationale.
The International Trade Commission on July 30 issued Revision 18 to the 2020 Harmonized Tariff Schedule. This latest version implements extended exclusions from list two Section 301 tariffs on products from China under new subheading 9903.88.54 and new U.S. note 20(ggg) to subchapter III of chapter 99. The ITC also made a technical fix to general note 11 for USMCA. The changes are effective July 31.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced a new set of product exclusions for products on the fourth list of Section 301 tariffs on products from China. New subheading 9903.88.55 will be used for the exclusions, which will be found in U.S. Note 20(hhh) to subchapter III of chapter 99. The new set of exclusions are reflected in “one existing ten-digit HTSUS subheading and 9 specially prepared product descriptions, which together respond to 25 separate exclusion requests,” the notice said.
Almost three-quarters of all exclusions from list three Section 301 China tariffs are now set to expire Aug. 7, after the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative declined to extend them in the run-up to their expiration. In a notice released Aug. 6, USTR only granted extensions to 266 of the about 1,000 list three exclusions published to date.