The final list of goods subject to the latest round of Section 301 tariffs will likely be out in days, and duties will probably remain in place for the foreseeable future, given the current state of U.S.-China trade negotiations, trade consultant David Trumbull of Agathon Associates said in an Aug. 8 post on his blog Textiles and Trade. “In view of short time before the tariffs are anticipated and the fact that [the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative] has already gathered public comments and testimony and started analysis, that USTR will likely issue the final list 4 within a few days,” he said. “Based on our observations from lists 1 through 3, we believe it unlikely that USTR will remove much from list 4. We also believe that, given the current state of U.S.-China trade talks, which are at the coldest ever, there is little likelihood of averting tariffs, meaning the September 1, 2019, [start] will likely stick. Finally, in view of the way List 3 went from 10% to 25%, we believe that if this trade dispute continues into 2020, there is substantial risk of 25% tariff of list 4,” Trumbull said.
In a review of how the domestic industry has or has not been given breathing room to adjust to imports, the International Trade Commission says there has been some improvement in the financial performance of domestic washing machine producers, increased production and employment, and progress in implementing adjustment plans. Imports have declined, and Samsung and LG started production of washers in South Carolina and Tennessee, respectively, though they are having difficulties ramping up.
Businesses would get a reason for their exclusion denials if a bill introduced by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., earlier this month becomes law. S. 2362, which has no co-sponsors, would require that an exclusion process be opened before any Section 232 or Section 301 duties went into effect. The Commerce Department and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative would be required to make determinations within 30 days on each request. In a press release announcing the bill, Whitehouse said: “President Trump’s tariffs are causing enormous uncertainty for Rhode Island companies as they make decisions about adding jobs and investing in research and development. It is the least we can do to put in place a fair, orderly process to determine whether a business qualifies for a tariff waiver.”
CBP has assessed about $33.4 billion in duties under the major trade remedies started during the Trump administration as of Aug. 7, according to CBP's trade statistics page. That is about an 8 percent increase from the previous update on July 24 (see 1907250020). That includes $24.4 billion in duties from the Section 301 tariffs on goods from China. CBP also has assessed about $6 billion under the Section 232 tariffs on steel and $1.9 billion under tariffs on aluminum. The Section 201 trade remedies on washing machines, washing machine parts and solar cells (see 1801230052), imposed Jan. 23, 2018, account for $962.4 million in assessed tariffs.
The International Trade Commission in recent days posted Revision 11 to the 2019 Harmonized Tariff Schedule. All changes relate to implementation of the first group of exclusions from tranche three of Section 301 tariffs on products from China (see 1908050010). That includes the creation of new tariff subheading 9903.88.13 for products filed under the new exclusions.
CBP added the ability in ACE for importers to file entries with the first group of excluded goods from the third tranche of Section 301 tariffs on Aug. 8, it said in a CSMS message. Filers of imported products that were granted an exclusion (see 1908050010) should report the regular Chapters 39, 54, 56, 73, 87 and 89 Harmonized Tariff Schedule number, as well as subheading 9903.88.13, for products subject to Section 301 duties on products from China but that have been granted an exclusion by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. “Importers shall not submit the corresponding Chapter 99 HTS number for the Section 301 duties when HTS 9903.88.13 is submitted,” CBP said.
Tariffs Hurt the Heartland says importers paid $6 billion in tariffs in June, up $2.5 billion, or 74 percent, from the same month in 2018. The report, based on Census data, covers the first month when Section 301 tariffs on $200 billion in imports from China were at 25 percent rather than 10 percent. The advocacy group also noted that June was the 11th month in a row that American exports targeted for retaliation declined by more than 15 percent.
Even at only 10 percent, the List 4 Section 301 tariffs due to take effect Sept. 1 on up to $300 billion worth of Chinese imports “would have a much larger impact on the U.S. tech sector” than the previous three rounds of 25 percent duties, an Aug. 5 S&P Global Ratings report said. The List 4 tariffs would “significantly raise costs for manufacturers and prices for consumers,” much more so than the current tariffs, it said.
The Commerce Department issued Federal Register notices on its recently initiated antidumping duty investigations on utility scale wind towers from Canada, Indonesia, South Korea and Vietnam (A-122-867, A-560-833, A-580-902, A-552-825), as well as its new countervailing duty investigations on utility scale wind towers from Canada, Indonesia and Vietnam (A-122-868, A-560-834, A-552-825).
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for July 29 - Aug. 2 in case they were missed.