Seven full business days of testimony in front of the International Trade Commission on List 4 of Chinese products set for Section 301 tariffs begins June 17 (see 1906140042). Representatives from dozens of industries -- including apparel, bicycles, tech, chemicals, textiles, equipment manufacturing, retail, shipping, pharmaceutical and air conditioning -- will testify. The testimony will not be televised, but submitted comments can be read at regulations.gov.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said it's too speculative to say whether the imposition of tariffs on List 4 of Section 301 goods from China might be put on hold after President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping meet at the G-20 summit at the end of June. In fact, Ross told Bloomberg TV June 13 that it's not clear whether the two will share just a brief conversation, or a dinner. "We don't know for sure there will be a meeting," he said.
Quartz countertops imported from China and cut from quartz slabs from the U.S. are considered to be of U.S. origin, CBP said in a April 25 ruling. The ruling comes at the request of idX Corporation, which imports the cut and polished countertops into the U.S. Both the unfinished slabs and the finished countertops are classified under subheading 6810.99.00, as “Articles of … artificial stone, whether or not reinforced: Other: Other.” That subheading is included in the third tranche of Section 301 tariffs on goods from China.
One member of each party from the House and Senate have joined together on a letter to the U.S. trade representative about exclusions for Section 301, and how the process for List 3 might be expedited. The letter, sent June 12 by Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla.; Rep. Jackie Walorski, R-Ind.; Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del.; and Rep. Ron Kind, D-Wis., asks USTR if the office needs more resources to get through all the requests. They also asked that when requests are granted, relief is retroactive to September 2018, not just when the tariff climbed from 10 percent to 25 percent. "As we near the one-year mark of the application of tariffs on Chinese imports included on Lists 1 and 2, we anticipate your office will see the value in automatically granting renewed exclusions for products which had already received an exclusion," they wrote.
CBP created Harmonized System Update (HSU) 1911 on June 11, containing 4 Automated Broker Interface records and 1 Harmonized Tariff Schedule record, it said in a CSMS message. The update includes adjustments required by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative's announcement of new exemptions from Section 301 tariffs on China (see 1906030038). Modifications required by the verification of the 2019 HTS are included as well.
Consumer Technology Association members have identified 139 “line items for technology sector products” they want removed from List 4 of the proposed Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports, the association said in comments dated June 10 in docket USTR-2019-0004. “The annual import value from China of those items alone totals over $167 billion, over half of the entire value of the products on List 4,” CTA said.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for June 3-7 in case they were missed.
The International Trade Commission issued Revision 7 to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule. The revised tariff schedule now reflects the removal of India from the Generalized System of Preferences program (see 1905310072), with the country removed from lists of GSP beneficiaries in General Note 4, and a bevy of subheadings for India removed from the list of country-product pairs ineligible for GSP because they exceeded Competitive Need Limitations. The new version also ends an exemption for India from Section 201 safeguards on solar cells and washing machines, because India is no longer considered a developing country that qualifies for the exemption. These changes took effect June 5.
CBP will add the ability in ACE for importers to file entries with the fifth group of exclusions from the first tranche of Section 301 tariffs on June 11, it said in a CSMS message. Filers of imported products that were granted an exclusion (see 1906030038) should report the regular Chapter 84, 85 or 90 Harmonized Tariff Schedule number, as well as subheading 9903.88.10, 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 9903.88.10 is submitted,” CBP said.