On Monday, May 13, 2019, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) released a new proposed list of products that could be subject to an additional 25 percent tariff.
News / Regulatory Updates
On Thursday, May 9, 2019, the Federal Register published a Notice of Modification of Section 301 Action by the United States Trade Representative (USTR) office increasing the rate of the additional duty from 10 percent to 25 percent on the $200 billion in List 3 products imported from China. The increase is effective Friday, May 10, 2019.
Effective Date Specifics
The Federal Register notice amends the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) of the U.S. to provide that the tariff increase for these List 3 products will be effective with respect to goods:
- entered for consumption or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after 12:01am EDT time on May 10, 2019; and
- exported to the U.S., on or after May 10, 2019.
On Sunday, May 5, 2019, the President of the United States threatened to move forward with increasing the List 3 China Tariffs from 10% to 25% on $200 billion in imports from China, effective Friday, May 10, 2019. This is a change in the administration’s position from their February 24th decision to postpone the increase indefinitely.
The president also noted that an additional 25% tariff on all remaining products imported from China (valued at $325 billion) would be implemented “shortly.” A specific date and hearing process have not been announced for this new fourth list of products.
On Thursday, April 18, 2019, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) office released a third Notice of Product Exclusions to Section 301 List 1 products currently subject to a 25% tariff.
Companies are encouraged to refer to the Annex to the notice of product exclusions to determine if any of your products are included in the 21 products now available for exclusion. The scope of each exclusion is governed by the 10-digit level Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) numbers and product descriptions identified in the Annex to the notice. It is important to note that these exclusions are available for any product that meets the description in the official notice, regardless of whether the importer filed an exclusion request. If you import products that fall under these descriptions, you will be able to claim an exclusion using HTS# 9903.88.07.
On March 15, 2019, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) ended their delayed enforcement period of the Importer Security Filings (ISF-5) and began issuing liquidated damage claims for the violations of the ISF requirements for Freight Remaining on Board (FROB) cargo, cargo intended to be transported as immediate exportation (I.E.), and transportation and exportation (T&E) in-bond shipments. These shipments, which are docking at United States ports, require the transmission of five (5) data elements 24 hours in advance of cargo being laden on board a vessel.
On Monday, April 8, 2019, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) office issued a press release in response to a World Trade Organization (WTO) finding that subsidies provided to Airbus by the European Union (EU) have caused adverse effects to the United States. The USTR announced that they are identifying EU products to which additional duties may be applied, pursuant to Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974.
On Wednesday, March 20, 2019, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) office released a second Notice of Product Exclusions to the Section 301 List 1 products currently subject to a 25% tariff.
The scope of each exclusion is governed by the 10-digit level Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) numbers and the descriptions identified in the notice. It is important to note that these exclusions are available for any product that meets the description in the official notice, regardless of whether the importer filed an exclusion request. If you import products that fall under these descriptions, you will be able to claim an exclusion using HTS number 9903.88.06.
In a press release dated March 4, 2019, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced “the United States intends to terminate India’s and Turkey’s designation as beneficiary developing countries under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program because they no longer comply with the statutory eligibility criteria.”
On February 24, 2019, the President of the United States announced that the increase in tariffs from 10% to 25% on $200 billion worth of Section 301 List 3 imports from China scheduled for March 2, 2019, is being postponed. The tariffs will remain at 10% for the foreseeable future as no new deadline for increasing the duties has been announced.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is now accepting entries for products that were excluded from the United States Trade Representative (USTR) Section 301 List 1 Tariffs on certain products imported from China. The exclusions granted thus far, which only apply to List 1 products subject to a 25 percent tariff, are retroactive to July 6, 2018, and will be effective until December 28, 2019.