CBP on April 18 added the ability in ACE for importers to file entries with the third group of exclusions from Section 301 duties, it said in a CSMS message. Filers of imported products that were granted an exclusion should report the regular Chapter 84, 85 or 90 Harmonized Tariff Schedule number, as well as subheading 9903.88.07 for products subject to Section 301 duties on products from China but that have been granted an exclusion by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. “Do not submit the corresponding Chapter 99 HTS number for the Section 301 duties when HTS 9903.88.07 is submitted,” CBP said.
CBP created Harmonized System Update (HSU) 1906 on April 17, containing 414 Automated Broker Interface records and 85 Harmonized Tariff Schedule records, it said in a CSMS message. The update includes adjustments required by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative's announcement of new exemptions from Section 301 tariffs on China (see 1904170038). Modifications required by the verification of the 2019 HTS are included as well.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is publishing its latest list of product exclusions from the first tranche of $34 billion in Section 301 tariffs on China. This latest third list of exclusions does not include any full tariff schedule subheadings, instead applying to 21 subsets of tariff numbers in Chapters 84, 85 and 90.
SAN ANTONIO, Texas -- A lawsuit challenging the new CBP drawback regulations that limit drawback on goods subject to excise taxes (see 1812190011) is expected soon, Sandler Travis lawyer Michael Cerny said on a panel at the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America's annual conference on April 16. CBP is saying "the export of excise-tax-free goods is considered a drawback, therefore you can't get a second drawback of that through substitution," Cerny said. "This is going to be challenged," and he said he expects a lawsuit within "the next few weeks." The excise tax changes became effective on Feb. 19, 2019.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative issued a third list of product exclusions from Section 301 tariffs on goods from China. The exclusions are "reflected in 21 specially prepared product descriptions, which cover 348 separate exclusion requests," according to a pre-publication copy of a notice posted to the agency’s website April 15. The product exclusions apply retroactively to July 6, 2018, the date the first set of tariffs took effect, and will remain in effect until one year after USTR publishes the notice in the Federal Register.
A coalition of U.S. producers seeks the imposition of new antidumping and countervailing duties on ceramic tile from China, it said in a petition filed with the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission April 10. Commerce will now decide whether to begin AD/CVD investigations, which could result in the imposition of permanent AD/CV duty orders and the assessment of AD and CV duties on importers.
Toyota does support the renegotiated NAFTA, a top executive said at a trade conference in Washington, even though it will require the company to change some of its sourcing to meet the new 75 percent autos rule of origin. Doug Murtha, vice president of corporate strategy and planning for Toyota's North American division, said that the addition of $3 billion in U.S investments were, "to some extent, changes we had to make for USMCA."
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for March 25-29 in case they were missed.
Momentum is moving China and the U.S. toward a trade deal, Myron Brilliant, head of international affairs for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said while speaking with reporters April 2. "We're getting into the end game phase" with China, he said. Brilliant said the negotiations with the Chinese delegation that will begin April 3 will be critical to reaching a resolution at the end of April, as both sides desire. But Brilliant emphasized that the business community is more interested in a comprehensive, durable deal that resolves long-standing complaints on discrimination against foreign companies operating in China and subsidies for Chinese firms than in reaching a quick deal.
The International Trade Commission recently posted Revisions 1 and 2 to the 2019 Harmonized Tariff Schedule. According to its change record, Revision 1 adds new note 20(i) to subchapter III of Chapter 99 to implement the latest set of Section 301 exemptions announced by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (see 1903210048). New HTS subheading 9903.88.06 is added for products that benefit from the new set of exclusions. Also, General Statistical Note 4(d) is amended to add unit of quantity abbreviation “A” for amperes, and remove the abbreviation “gr cntnrs” for gross containers. Revision 2 adds a new section to the rules of origin under the U.S.-Morocco Free Trade Agreement in General Note 27 for goods of chapter 62, as announced by USTR on March 22 (see 1903210042). That change, the only in the now-current Revision 2 edition of the HTS, takes effect April 1.