International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for March 18-22 in case they were missed.
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.
CBP on March 22 added the ability in ACE for importers to file entries with the second group of exclusions from Section 301 duties, it said in a CSMS message issued on the same day. Filers of imported products that were granted an exclusion should report the regular chapter 84, 85 or 90 Harmonized Tariff Schedule number, as well as subheading 9903.88.06 for products subject to Section 301 duties on products from China but that have been granted an exemption by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. “Do not submit the corresponding Chapter 99 HTS number for the Section 301 duties when HTS 9903.88.06 is submitted,” CBP said.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative issued another list of product exclusions from Section 301 tariffs on goods from China, granting full or partial exemptions for 87 separate exclusion requests, according to a pre-publication copy of a notice posted to the agency’s website March 20. The product exclusions apply retroactively to July 6, 2018, the date the first set of tariffs took effect, and will remain in effect until one year after USTR publishes the notice in the Federal Register.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for March 11-15 in case they were missed.
With the second round of announcements on Section 301 exclusions (see 1903010029), trade professionals are trying to find patterns of what is granted -- so far, 985 requests -- and what has been denied -- a little over 4,500. About 3,300 requests on hundreds of tariff lines have been tentatively approved by USTR, if CBP says the exclusions are administrable. Nicole Bivens Collinson, who leads the international trade and government relations practice at Sandler Travis, said that if all of those were to go through, about 45 percent of all requests would have been approved.
Rep. Jackie Walorski, R-Ind., said that with an approval rate of just under 6 percent for steel exclusion requests when domestic firms objected, "it really looks like somebody's finger is on the scale." In a sit-down with International Trade Today, Walorski explained how what started with complaints from 10 businesses in her district -- which is heavy with steel-consuming RV manufacturers -- has made her office the place for companies around the country to share their problems with exclusions. "We knew this is probably what was going to happen," she said of the exclusion process that favors domestic producers.
When U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer was asked during his Senate Finance Committee testimony March 12 if the China trade deal might come together by the end of March, he said it remains to be determined. "Well, we’ll see ... I don’t know when something’s going to happen. Something is either going to have a good result or we’re going to have a bad result before too long," he said. "But I’m not setting a specific time frame and it’s not up to me. I’m working as hard as I can, and the president will tell me when the time is up or the Chinese will." He told Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, a former USTR himself, that the Chinese are offering concessions with the goal of getting Section 301 tariffs lifted, and he said that "is under debate."
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Feb. 25 - March 1 in case they were missed.
General Electric, a major U.S. exporter, remains supportive of "the notion of trying to open markets," said Drew Quinn, director of trade policy at GE. But, the tariffs the U.S. is using to try to bludgeon China into a more open stance are worse than the status quo, he said. Quinn, who was speaking at a March 5 Washington International Trade Association program on Asia, said that tariffs are generally pretty low on the aircraft engines, MRI machines and turbines it sells. There aren't a lot of investment barriers, either. "The biggest issue for us is the host country's industrial policies, and how they favor their national champions," he said. But even there, Quinn said, GE has found a way to work with foreign countries where it has facilities, and has been able to participate in subsidies. "We may have a different and less absolutist position than some people."
The day after U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer told Rep. Jackie Walorski at a hearing that he still believes there's no need for exclusions from 10 percent tariffs on Chinese imports, she and Rep. Ron Kind have introduced a bill that would force him to put the process in place. Their bill -- which has a Senate companion written by Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., and Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del. -- is called the Import Tax Relief Act.