Rep. Haley Stevens, co-chair of a new 34-member House Democratic Manufacturing Task Force, said that the last expiration of the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill hurt companies. “A lot of manufacturers lost out and a lot of hard-working manufacturing workers lost out on wages,” she said during a press conference March 18.
CBP's interpretation of the “core or super-core calculation” within USMCA will have a major impact on the auto industry, with billions of dollars “at stake,” Sandler Travis lawyer Lenny Feldman said at the March 17 meeting of the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee. That calculation involves the regional value content, and CBP's stance differs from Canada's and Mexico's, he said. “Prior to July 1, there are some really urgent issues, particularly in the auto industry, that need to be addressed,” said Feldman, a COAC co-chair.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
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.”