CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Oct. 21-25 in case they were missed.
The International Trade Commission has issued Revision 15 to the 2019 Harmonized Tariff Schedule. The only substantive change from the previous HTS edition is the removal of an exemption from solar cells safeguard duties for double-sided solar panels, as announced by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative in early October (see 1910080054).
CBP has assessed about $43 billion in duties under the major trade remedies started during the Trump administration as of Oct. 2, according to CBP's trade statistics page. That includes $34 billion in duties from the Section 301 tariffs on goods from China, up around $3 billion from about a month ago. The assessed tariffs under Section 301 now include the 15 percent tariffs that took effect on Sept. 1 (see 1908270066). CBP also has assessed about $6.3 billion under the Section 232 tariffs on steel and $1.8 billion under tariffs on aluminum. The Section 201 trade remedies on washing machines, washing machine parts and solar cells (see 1801230052), imposed Jan. 23, 2018, account for $1.1 billion in assessed tariffs.
CBP affirmed its position on the use of substantial transformation as the standard for determining country of origin for goods subject to Section 301 tariffs and NAFTA rules, it said in ruling HQ H305370. CBP said another recent ruling mistakenly said that computer server cabinets assembled in Mexico were not subject to the Section 301 tariffs when in fact they are.
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 include " 83 specially prepared product descriptions, which cover 95 separate exclusion requests", according to the notice.
IRobot’s U.S. sales declined 7 percent in Q3 because growth “remained subdued as the direct and indirect impacts” of the 25 percent List 3 Section 301 tariffs “weighed heavily on consumers, retailers and suppliers,” CEO Colin Angle said on an Oct. 23 call. IRobot price hikes in late July resulted in “suboptimal sellthrough” in August and September, prompting the vendor to roll back pricing to “pre-tariff levels” earlier in October, he said.
CBP added the ability in ACE for importers to file entries with recently excluded goods in the first tranche of Section 301 tariffs on Oct. 8, it said in a CSMS messages. For the first tranche exclusions, filers of imported products that were granted an exclusion (see 1909300041) should report the regular Chapters 84, 85, 88 and 90 Harmonized Tariff Schedule number, as well as subheading 9903.88.19. “Importers shall not submit the corresponding Chapter 99 HTS number for the Section 301 duties when" subheading 9903.88.19 is submitted, CBP said.
The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated with 39 rulings on Oct. 18. The following headquarters ruling not involving carriers were modified on Oct. 18, according to CBP:
CBP created Harmonized System Update (HSU) 1917 on Oct. 18, containing 81 Automated Broker Interface records and 26 Harmonized Tariff Schedule records, it said in a CSMS message. The update includes recently announced exclusions and other changes to the Section 301 tariffs (see 1909300009). Another change is related to the tariffs on goods from Europe that began on Oct. 18 (see 1910170049)