The coronavirus bill pending in Congress includes a provision that could help importers that have been unprofitable after the imposition of Section 301 or Section 232 tariffs. According to draft text of the CARES Act (Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act), companies can use the losses they incurred in 2018, 2019 or 2020 to get income tax refunds from the previous five years. They could apply now for those 2018 and 2019 losses.
CBP should look at “extending the liquidation of all unliquidated entries by 90 or 180 days,” the Business Alliance for Customs Modernization told the agency in a March 23 letter. Those extensions “would help ensure that importers who may be eligible for duty refunds (e.g., based on Section 232 or Section 301 product exclusion approvals) do not miss opportunities to pursue such refunds administratively due to staffing issues caused by COVID-19.” BACM offered its support for deferring collections of customs duties and asked “that payments related to past liabilities, such as denied protests, also be temporarily deferred.” BACM suggested several other items it said “would help ease the burden on the trade community during this time.”
A group of Republican senators supports a temporary delay in duty collections, they said in a March 25 letter to President Donald Trump. “We believe it would be wise to provide a temporary deferral of duty collection for businesses to opt-in to,” said the letter, which was led by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. “There are a number of ways to do this that would be helpful that are already being reviewed through the interagency process. Similar to the IRS providing Americans an additional 90 days to make tax payments without incurring interest or penalties, a duty deferral would be a commonsense way to improve the liquidity of our businesses during this time of economic disruption.”
A coalition of U.S. manufacturers seeks the imposition of new antidumping and countervailing duties on vertical shaft engines between 99 cc and up to 225 cc, and parts thereof, from China, it said in a petition filed with the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission March 17. Commerce will now decide whether to begin AD/CVD investigations, which could result in the imposition of permanent AD/CV duty orders and the assessment of AD and CV duties on importers.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for March 16-20 in case they were missed.
The American Association of Exporters and Importers is asking the Trump administration to help importers and exporters deal with the impact of COVID-19 response measures, whether that impact is a cash crunch, the effects of telework or business decisions made in response to delays in shipments from China. The group is asking the administration to extend the time to respond to regulatory notices that are paper based, including entry filings deadlines, because telecommuting makes it more difficult to manage the paper flow. It is also asking CBP to extend the protest period for customs duties and decisions.
The Office of the U.S Trade Representative plans to issue some new product exclusions from Section 301 tariffs on the third list of products from China (see 2003230001), it said in a notice. The product exclusions apply retroactively to Sept. 24, 2018, the date the tariffs on the third list took effect, and will remain in effect until Aug. 7, 2020. New subheading 9903.88.43 will be used for these excluded products.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative issued another set of product exclusions from the third group of Section 301 tariffs on goods from China. The new exclusions from the tariffs include "one 10-digit HTSUS subheading, which covers one exclusion request, and 176 specially prepared product descriptions, which cover 202 separate exclusion requests." according to the notice. The product exclusions apply retroactively to Sept. 24, 2018, the date the third set of tariffs took effect. The exclusions will remain in effect until Aug. 7, 2020.
The Cheese Importers Association of America is asking that shops and importers lobby their congressional representatives and ask that the tariffs paid on European cheeses in retaliation for Airbus subsidies be refunded, and that they be lifted for the rest of the year. The tariffs “will only serve to weaken the ability of restaurants, specialty food stores, food importers and distributors to make payroll and for American families to afford food and other essential items,” the organization said. While the organization is asking this be part of the COVID-19 stimulus package, it's not clear Congress has the authority to rescind the tariffs, which were levied under Section 301 by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
CBP created Harmonized System Update (HSU) 2003 on March 18, containing 8,453 Automated Broker Interface records and 1,413 Harmonized Tariff Schedule records, it said in a CSMS message. The update includes the increase to Section 301 tariffs on European Union aircraft and other changes related to the Boeing-Airbus dispute at the World Trade Organization (see 2002180040). The update also covers recent Section 301 tariff exclusions for medical goods on list 4A (see 2003060042 and 2003130010) and recently released Section 301 tariff exclusions for goods on the third list (see 2002190015).