The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative issued a new set of product exclusions from the 25 percent Section 301 tariffs on goods from China. The exclusions include products from the third list of Section 301 goods. The new exclusions "are reflected in 2 ten-digit HTSUS subheadings and 66 specially prepared product descriptions, which cover 81 separate exclusion requests," according to the notice.
CBP has not updated ACE yet with the extensions granted to six Section 301 exclusions that were set to expire on Dec. 28, the agency said in a CSMS message. “CBP expects the update to be soon after 1/2/2020 and will provide an update when programming is complete and ready to accept transmission of HTS 9903.88.05 on entries with entry dates beyond 12/28/2019,” CBP said. Twenty-five of the original set of Section 301 exclusions expired on Dec. 28 (see 1912190060).
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Dec. 23-27 in case they were missed.
President Donald Trump tweeted that he will sign “our very large and comprehensive Phase One Trade Deal with China on January 15” at the White House. "High level representatives of China will be present" and Trump is planning to go to Beijing "at a later date" to begin talks around Phase Two, he said. An administration official previously said the signing would be done between the U.S. trade representative and China's vice premier, and would happen in the first week of January (see 1912130035).
Although tariffs were imposed to protect American factories from China's unfair trading practices, the import protection was overshadowed by the higher input costs tariffs created, a new report from the Federal Reserve says. The report estimated that the industries most exposed to tariffs had a reduction in manufacturing employment of 1.4 percent compared with companies with low exposure to tariffs. Retaliatory tariffs also contributed to the drag on factories, the report found.
Stainless steel beer kegs used by Anheuser-Busch (AB) to transport beer are eligible for duty-free treatment as Instruments of International Traffic but would be subject to applicable trade remedies if the kegs enter U.S. commerce, CBP said in a June 13 ruling that the agency recently posted. Customs lawyer Michael Roll requested the ruling on behalf of AB as to the treatment of the kegs, which are of Chinese, U.S., Spanish, Mexican and German origin. AB will fill the subject kegs with beer outside the U.S. and will import them mostly through 22 U.S. ports, the company told CBP.
In the Dec. 11 Customs Bulletin (Vol. 53, No. 45), CBP published notices that propose to revoke or modify rulings and similar treatment for rigid plastic coolers and multiple types of chemical compounds.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Dec.16-20 in case they were missed.
The announcement of a phase one U.S.-China trade deal that included halving List 4A tariffs in place since Sept. 1 could do little to change damage done to small audio companies smacked by the previous three tranches of tariffs still in place, they said. Executives said in interviews this month have been hit hard by the duties with little hope other than to wait them out.
Richard O'Neill was named partner at Neville Peterson, where he was previously an associate attorney, the law firm said in an emailed news release. O'Neill's work is focused on “all aspects of international trade and Customs law, including tariff classification, appraisement, country of origin and trade preference programs, Section 301 and Section 232 tariffs, Free Trade Agreements, export controls and trade remedies,” the firm said.