News / Regulatory Updates

On October 31, 2019, in  Federal Register Notice 84 FR 58427, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) office announced that they are considering a possible extension of particular exclusions granted under the December 2018 Product Exclusion Notice, which are set to expire on December 28, 2019. The USTR is inviting public comments on whether to extend the particular exclusions.

Comments must be submitted through the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov, referencing Docket Number USTR-2019-0019. All commenters are encouraged to use the Exclusion Extension Comment Form A, which is provided on the site. If you have Business Confidential (BC) information, you are requested to also complete the Exclusion Extension Comment Form B and submit both Forms A and B via email to 301bcisubmissions@ustr.eop.gov.

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On October 25, 2019, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) office announced GSP Enforcement Actions effecting seven countries as follows:

Thailand: GSP eligibility will be revoked for approximately one-third of Thailand’s GSP trade which totaled $4.4 billion in 2018. This enforcement action, which will take effect April 25, 2020, is being taken because Thailand has not taken steps to provide internationally recognized worker rights in several important areas such as providing protections for freedom of association and collective bargaining. The list of products to be excluded from GSP for Thailand are focused on products for which the United States is a relatively important market for Thailand. A complete list of products to be excluded from GSP for Thailand is available here:  Thailand Excluded GSP Products.

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On Monday, October 28, 2019, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) office released a new list of product exclusions to the Section 301 List 3 products currently subject to a 25% tariff in the Federal Register Notice 84 FR 57803.

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On Sunday, October 20, 2019, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) published the procedures  for requesting the exclusion of particular products from the Section 301 List 4a tariffs against China. The procedures will be effective beginning Thursday, October 31, 2019.

Exclusion Information Required by USTR

USTR is seeking specific information, data and the rationale for the requested exclusion. To submit an exclusion request, requesters must first register on the portal at https://exclusions.ustr.gov/s/login/, which will open at noon EDT on October 31, 2019.

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On Friday, October 11, 2019, the United States Administration announced a Phase 1 interim deal with China. The Phase 1 deal with China will require China to purchase U.S. agricultural products and set a currency standard for the China renminbi. It will also strengthen protections of U.S. intellectual property rights and provide access to Chinese markets for U.S. financial services firms. The United States will suspend the increase in tariffs from 25% to 30% on $250 billion worth of Chinese imports which was scheduled to take effect on October 15, 2019.

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On Wednesday, October 2, 2019, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) office issued a press release in response to a World Trade Organization (WTO) finding that $7.5 billion in subsidies provided to Airbus by the European Union (EU) have “seriously injured” the United States (U.S.) aerospace industry. As a result of the findings, the U.S. will place WTO-approved tariffs on EU goods.

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On Friday, September 27, 2019, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) office released two notices of product exclusions to the Section 301 List 1 and 2 products currently subject to a 25% tariff as follows:

• List 1 Notice of Product Exclusions September 27, 2019
• List 2 Notice of Product Exclusions September 27, 2019

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On Tuesday, September 17, 2019, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) office released three notices of product exclusions to the Section 301 List 1-3 products currently subject to a 25% tariff as follows:

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On Wednesday, September 11, 2019, the president of the United States announced that “as a gesture of good will” the United States will delay the 5% increase in tariffs on $250 billion worth of Chinese imports originally scheduled for October 1, 2019. The increase is now scheduled for October 15, 2019.

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On Thursday, August 29, 2019, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) issued a request for comments concerning Section 301 actions. This comment period is specific to the increase in tariffs from 25 percent to 30 percent for Section 301 Lists 1-3 valued at $250 billion previously announced in the USTR Statement on Section 301 Tariff Action Regarding China. These new tariffs are set to increase on October 1, 2019.

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