The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated March 16. The following headquarters rulings were modified recently, according to CBP:
House Ways and Means Committee chief trade counsel Katherine Tai was confirmed by the Senate as U.S. trade representative on March 17, by a 98-0 vote. Politicians from both parties, trade skeptics and export-focused trade associations all hailed her promotion to the Biden administration Cabinet. She is the first woman of color to be USTR.
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from March 8-12 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The International Trade Commission released the 2021 Basic Edition of the U.S. Harmonized Tariff Schedule March 15. The new edition, which follows three “preliminary” updates issued earlier this year, implements the recently announced four-month pause on Section 301 tariffs on goods from the United Kingdom, effective March 4 (see 2103040043). It also adds a new provision on the USMCA tariff-rate quota for sugar-containing products from Canada. The four-month suspension of Section 301 tariffs on all European Union goods, which took effect March 11 (see 2103120047), is not implemented in this edition.
CBP posted multiple documents ahead of the March 17 Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) meeting:
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
CBP's continued application of Part 102 NAFTA marking rules for goods imported from Canada and Mexico (see 2103100025) doesn't include some agricultural goods imported under USMCA, said Monika Brenner, chief of the CBP Valuation and Special Programs Branch, during the virtual Georgetown Law International Trade Update on March 10. “For certain goods, it's designated as an S+ in the special subcolumn,” she said. “And for those you actually have to figure out if it's a good of Canada or a good of Mexico.”
CBP will allow importers to continue to use Part 102 NAFTA marking rules for goods imported from Canada and Mexico, even though they are no longer a requirement for USMCA preferences, said James Kim, a lawyer with CBP’s Office of Regulations and Rulings currently working at the agency’s USMCA center, during a Zoom call following a panel discussion March 9.
The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated March 3. The following headquarters rulings were modified recently, according to CBP:
Joseph Barloon, former Office the U.S. Trade Representative official, has rejoined Skadden Arps as a partner in the firm's Washington, D.C., office, the law firm announced in a March 1 news release. Barloon served as general counsel from 2019 to 2020 and then as acting deputy USTR from 2020 to 2021, overseeing litigation against the U.S.'s largest trading partners and implementation of the USMCA. Barloon was nominated to be a judge at the Court of International Trade by President Donald Trump but wasn't confirmed (see 2102050032).