The International Trade Commission identified 112 tariff lines in a report on goods needed to fight COVID-19, and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., is asking that all duties be suspended for 90 days on those goods. The majority of the 112 tariff lines are covered neither by Section 301 nor by Most Favored Nation duties, so are currently duty free.
The International Trade Commission recently issued two rapid-fire updates to the 2020 Harmonized Tariff Schedule. Revision 8 to the HTS implemented the suspension of Generalized System of Preferences treatment for many products from Thailand in response to labor rights violations (see 1910280044), effective April 25. Also on that update, the ITC implemented extensions to list 1 Section 301 tariff exclusions under U.S. Note 20(j), as announced in an April 10 notice from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (see 2004080011). In Revision 9, issued April 29, the ITC implemented a new set of Section 301 exclusions for products on list 3, as announced in a USTR notice issued April 24 (see 2004230010). The exclusions are found under U.S. Note 20(xx), and filed under 9903.88.45.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is requesting comments on whether 11 sets of tariff exclusions granted to Chinese imports on Section 301 List 3 that are set to expire Aug. 7, 2020, should last another year, it said in a notice. The exclusions being considered for extensions are all the List 3 exclusions granted through March 26, it said. The agency will start accepting comments on the extensions on May 1. The comments are due by June 8, it said. Each exclusion will be evaluated independently. The focus of the evaluation will be whether, despite the first imposition of these additional duties in September 2018, the particular product remains available only from China. The companies are required to post a public rationale.
iRobot expects about $57 million in refunds of the List 3 Section 301 tariffs it has paid since the duties took effect in September 2018, including $6.6 million paid in Q1, Chief Financial Officer Alison Dean said on an April 29 Q1 investor call. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative granted iRobot a tariff exclusion last week on the robotic vacuums it imports from China (see 2004240031). The refunds are expected in several installments this year, Dean said. The exclusion expires Aug. 7.
Increased CBP scrutiny on valuation, changes in tariff classification, and country of origin for products targeted in the U.S.-China trade war means companies need to be extra careful when doing tariff engineering or shifts in assembly locations, Sandler Travis lawyer Paula Connelly said, speaking on an April 28 webinar offered by the Coalition of New England Companies for Trade. Most of her presentation focused on establishing country of origin.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is requesting comments on whether the set of tariff exclusions on Chinese imports on Section 301 List 2 that are set to expire July 31 (see 1907290023) should last another year, it said in a notice. The agency will start accepting comments on the extensions on May 1. The comments are due by June 1, it said. Each exclusion will be evaluated independently. The focus of the evaluation will be whether, despite the first imposition of these additional duties in August 2018, the particular product remains available only from China. The companies are required to post a public rationale.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is requesting comments on whether the set of tariff exclusions on Chinese imports on Section 301 List 1 that are set to expire July 9 (see 1907080023) should last another year, it said in a notice. The agency will start accepting comments on the extensions on May 1. The comments are due by June 1, it said. Each exclusion will be evaluated independently. The focus of the evaluation will be whether, despite the first imposition of these additional duties in July 2018, the particular product remains available only from China. The companies are required to post a public rationale.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of April 20-26:
CBP created Harmonized System Update (HSU) 2004 on April 27, containing 8,983 Automated Broker Interface records and 1,845 Harmonized Tariff Schedule records, it said in a CSMS message. The update includes recent Section 301 tariff exclusions. The update also covers changes to the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program, including the removal of Thailand from the program, which took effect April 25 (see 1910280044).
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for April 20-24 in case they were missed.