On Monday, January 27, 2020, the China Government announced that the Chinese New Year (CNY) public holiday will be extended through February 2, 2020, (Shanghai, Ningbo, Hangzhou and Suzhou through February 9) as part of their efforts to contain the coronavirus outbreak. Ocean carriers have advised that the ports are operational, but to expect delays and changes to schedules. The following updates were received from ocean carriers on January 28.
News / Supply Chain Alerts
On January 22, 2020, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) office announced in Federal Register Notice 85 FR 3741 that the China List 4A tariff will be reduced to 7.5% from 15% effective February 14, 2020.
On Wednesday, January 15, 2020, the United States and China signed a phase one trade agreement which will open Chinese markets and increase sales of U.S. goods and services to China. The largest portion of the agreement focuses on Chinese purchases.
On Monday, January 6, 2020, 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 85 FR 549 .
On December 23, 2019, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) issued a Notice of Product Exclusion Extension extending, for one year, 6 of the 31 exclusions originally issued on the first list of Product Exclusions: December 28, 2018. Only the 6 item exclusions listed below will be extended for one year. The remaining 25 item exclusions have expired.
On Thursday, December 19, 2019, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued an update on the new Minimum Security Criteria (MSC) in CSMS Message 41052241. The message is addressed to CTPAT members and provides important information on the effective date for the MSC, along with how to find the new requirements and when you can update your profile with the new information.
On Tuesday, December 17, 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 69012.
On December 10, 2019, a revised version of the USMCA was agreed upon and signed by the United States, Mexico and Canada. The USMCA, which is set to modernize the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), was initially agreed upon and signed in 2018. USMCA updates provisions on agriculture, automobiles, textiles, apparel, rules of origin, communications technology, intellectual property rights, low-value shipments, digital trade, currency and other issues.
On Friday, December 13, 2019, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced a Phase 1 Trade Agreement with China. This enforceable agreement requires structural reforms to China’s economic and trade regime in the areas of intellectual property, technology transfer, agriculture, financial services, and currency and foreign exchange.