Temporary import bonds (TIBs) are allowed for goods subject to the Section 301 tariffs, CBP said in a list of frequently asked questions on the tariffs that took effect on July 6 (see 1807060012). "Any bond posted must be sufficient to cover all relevant duties, taxes, etc., including Section 301 duties," the agency said. Many of the other questions listed were previously addressed during a July 5 call with CBP officials about the tariffs (see 1807050033), a notice in the June 20 Federal Register (see 1806190060), or elsewhere (see 1807160027). Among the issues discussed in the FAQs are submitting entries using Chapter 98 provisions, duty calculation timing for TIBs and foreign-trade zones.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for July 16-20 in case they were missed.
The Consumer Technology Association wants the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to remove 54 tariff lines from the list of imports from China targeted for a second tranche of 25 percent Trade Act Section 301 duties, said Sage Chandler, vice president-international trade, in comments filed July 23 in docket USTR-2018-0018. Chandler also testified at the USTR’s public hearing on July 24. The 54 tariff lines were well more than double the 22 Harmonized Tariff Schedule product codes that Chandler said CTA members had identified nearly four weeks ago for exclusion from the new list of duties (see 1807100025). Tariffs on the proposed products “will harm the very industries they seek to protect, all while failing to influence China's behavior or help the administration's stated goal of eliminating China’s discriminatory trade practices,” Chandler said in her latest comments.
More than 20 businesses and trade groups -- the first set of more than 80 scheduled to testify -- told the Section 301 investigation panel on July 24 that including their imports on the tariff list of $16 billion in Chinese products will lead to higher consumer prices, lower profits, abandoned expansion plans or worse. For Jane Hardy, CEO of Brinly-Hardy Company in Kentucky, having Harmonized Tariff Schedule heading 8432.4200, fertilizer spreaders, added to the list is an existential threat. With the tariff on steel, her family-owned company, founded in 1839, began paying 25 percent to 37 percent more for the metal, even though she'd always bought domestic steel. Then, with the first tranche of Section 301, Chinese wheels and hardware that her Indiana factory uses as it builds equipment were taxed at 25 percent.
Though Hasbro products have escaped three rounds of Trade Act Section 301 tariffs implemented or proposed on Chinese goods, the toymaker is talking with the Trump administration and its congressional delegations “to ensure we’re communicating just how terrible an impact an ongoing tariff or trade war” would have on the company and the U.S. economy, CEO Brian Goldner said on a July 23 earnings call. “Thus far we’ve only seen non-material changes to the tariff schemes of other countries that don’t really impact our business,” he said. Hasbro’s toy business “has not been part” of Section 301 duties that took effect July 6, “but we continue to monitor the situation,” he said. “We continue to talk and firmly believe in a free-trade environment as the best course for our company and for the industry.” Hasbro sources about 65 percent of its product in revenue terms from China, but “we’re moving more production outside China,” Goldner said. “We found some great new partners and territories that provide very-high-quality product that can meet with our specifications,” he said. Hasbro also draws about 25 percent of its U.S. revenue from products sourced from manufacturing sites it runs in five states, Goldner said.
Consumer electronics wearables will be one of six categories of sports and activity gear included in a “global product labeling database” that the Sports & Fitness Industry Association and the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry will partner on in about a month, said Alli Schulman, SFIA coordinator-communications and marketing, on a July 18 webinar to mobilize member company opposition to proposed 10 percent Trade Act Section 301 tariffs on sports equipment and accessories (see 1807190003). The database will “provide labeling requirements for 49 countries around the world." More details will be disclosed in an SFIA webinar Aug. 2, she said.
Goods under the $800 de minimis level are not subject to Section 232 tariffs, a CBP spokesperson said July 18. CBP previously said that tariffs don't apply to de minimis shipments covered under the Section 301 tariffs (see 1807050033). The agency recently ruled against the use of foreign-trade zones to get around limits on de minimis entries (see 1807180022).
It’s “difficult to read the tea leaves,” or “glean” any lessons, from why the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative removed certain tariff lines from the initial list of Section 301 tariffs, said David Cohen, a lawyer with Sandler Travis, during Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA) webinar July 18. The USTR on June 15 announced it deleted 40 percent of the product lines from its first list of proposed Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports (see 1806150003). The rationale behind those changes isn't apparent, he said.
In more than 2,300 comments on the possibility of tariffs on imported autos and auto parts, only three support the idea, according to Jennifer Thomas, vice president of federal government affairs at the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers. Thomas, who represents all companies with American plants, was one of 45 witnesses testifying at the Commerce Department July 19, as the department investigates whether an increase in auto parts imports impairs the economic security of the auto industry or the ability of the military to benefit from advanced technologies such as autonomous driving (see 1805240002).
The Section 321 entry exemptions do not apply to bulk shipments sent to foreign-trade zones that are broken up for individual consumption entries below the $800 de minimis level prior to a consumer order, CBP said in May 8 ruling the agency released on July 17. Much of the decision hinges on the definition of "importation," as expected (see 1806050049). The ruling came in response to an internal advice request from Jim Swanson, CBP director-cargo and conveyance security and controls, it said. CBP recently said the new Section 301 tariffs won't apply to Section 321 entries (see 1807050033).