Changes to the U.S. tariff schedule that implement an update to the World Customs Organization's Harmonized System tariff nomenclature are set to take effect Jan. 27, according to the presidential proclamation scheduled for publication in the Federal Register Dec. 28. The full list of coming changes are described in a newly released report from the International Trade Commission.

The White House released its much anticipated proclamation amending the tariff schedule to implement the five-year update to the World Customs Organization’s Harmonized System tariff nomenclature. The widespread changes to the U.S. Harmonized Tariff Schedule will take effect 30 days after the proclamation is published in the Federal Register.

As released, the proclamation doesn't include the annexes that detail the actual changes themselves, though they will likely mirror those proposed in an International Trade Commission report to the president issued in April. The proclamation also amends tariff schedule provisions on Section 301 tariffs and on various trade agreements to conform to the changes elsewhere in the HTS.

The proclamation also removes Ethiopia, Guinea and Mali as African Growth and Opportunity Act beneficiaries, saying the three countries do not meet AGOA requirements. Unlike the other changes in the proclamation, the removal of these countries from AGOA takes effect Jan. 1.

CBP “understands” that the five-year Harmonized Tariff Schedule update to implement changes to the World Customs Organization’s harmonized system will not take effect Jan. 1, 2022, it said in an emailed CSMS message. “CBP is awaiting formal direction for this update, which will be implemented by Presidential Proclamation and published in the Federal Register. In the interim, CBP will continue to use the current harmonized tariff schedule and encourages the trade community to do the same until further guidance is provided.”

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., was able to get unanimous consent for a bill that will create a rebuttable presumption that goods with Xinjiang content are made with forced labor. The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which was already approved in the House, now heads to the president's desk. After it is signed, agencies will have 180 days to develop guidance for importers on due diligence and what sort of evidence would be adequate to prove goods are not made with forced labor. The shift of the burden of proof to importers will also begin 180 days after enactment.

Senate and House lawmakers reached an agreement on compromise text that merges versions of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act from each chamber, Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., tweeted on Dec. 14. "Happy to report that Senator [Marco] Rubio & I just reached an agreement on final text of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act," McGovern said. "We will be moving our bill through both chambers & to President Biden's desk as quickly as possible." The bill would add a rebuttable presumption that goods from the Xinjiang region of China are made with forced labor starting 180 days after enactment.

The bill would also require the government to hold a public comment period and hearing on how to trace goods and what supply chain management techniques can be used to ensure that no goods made with Chinese forced labor is being imported, and then, within 180 days, to develop a strategy on how to prevent the importation of these goods. Part of that process will be to create guidance for importers with information on what "type, nature and extent of evidence" CBP needs to see to believe that Chinese goods were not produced in Xinjiang or by minority groups working in factories against their will outside that province.

The Court of International Trade struck down the U.S. Trade Representative's attempt to withdraw an exclusion on bifacial solar panels from the Section 201 safeguard measures on solar cells in a Nov. 17 decision. Judge Gary Katzmann found that USTR lacked the statutory authority to withdraw the exclusion. The opinion is the second in as many days over the Trump administration's termination of the exclusion, following a Nov. 16 decision that struck down the presidential proclamation issued after CIT imposed a preliminary injunction on USTR's action. That Nov. 16 decision ordered refunds for tariffs paid under the safeguard on bifacial cells by the importers that filed the lawsuit.

Correction: The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will extend the expiration date for 81 of 99 previously granted Section 301 tariff exclusions for six months to May 31, it said in a notice posted on the agency's website. All the exclusions were slated to expire Nov. 14, but USTR is allowing a "transition period" and the exclusions not being extended will expire Nov. 30, it said.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will extend the exclusions from Section 301 China tariffs on goods used to treat COVID-19 for six months, it said in a notice posted on the agency's website. The exclusions were set to expire Nov. 30, but USTR said it will extend the 99 product exclusions to May 31.

The office of Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., released a discussion draft of much-anticipated customs modernization legislation that CBP has been considering as part of its 21st Century Customs Framework, according to an email from the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America. The trade group said Cassidy is seeking input on the draft legislation, and provided a one-page fact sheet, draft legislation and a section-by-section discussion summary for review.

A spokesman for Cassidy said this step is in the middle of the process and that he couldn't predict if a bill, revised after trade input, would be introduced in 2022.

The U.S. will administer tariff rate quotas starting Jan. 1 on European steel across 54 product categories, with an annual 3.3 metric ton limit, but the products that are currently covered by Section 232 exclusions won't count against the quotas. Those exclusions will automatically renew through the end of 2023, the Commerce Department announced. For both steel and aluminum, derivative products will no longer be subject to tariffs or quotas.

All products entered under the quota will have to be certified as being melted and poured in the EU. As with South Korea's quota, the TRQ will be administered quarterly. Up to 4% of unused quota from the first quarter can roll over to the third quarter and up to 4% of unused quota from the second quarter can roll over to the fourth quarter. Unused quota from the third quarter, up to 4%, again, can roll over to the first quarter of the following year.

For aluminum, the U.S. will administer TRQs twice a year, and up to 60% of the annual volume can be imported in the first half of the year. The tariff-free quota is 18,000 metric tons for unwrought aluminum, under two product categories, and 366,000 metric tons for semi-finished aluminum under 14 product categories.

The office of the U.S. Trade Representative plans to restart a Section 301 tariff exclusions process, and has no immediate plans to remove any of the Section 301 tariff targets now that its comprehensive China review is over. However, a government official who spoke on background during an Oct. 3 call with reporters said, "We also want to make sure to align existing tariffs to those [Biden-Harris administration] priorities."

The U.S. Trade Representative announced that Vietnam has committed to keep illegally traded timber out of the supply chain, so no trade action is warranted as a result of the Section 301 investigation. Vietnam agreed to improve customs enforcement at the border with high-risk source countries, and to collaborate on enforcement with those countries, in addition to other verification and seizure practices.

The U.S. Trade Representative will allow a short-term extension for the exclusions on goods used to treat COVID-19 from Section 301 tariffs on goods from China, it said in a notice posted on the agency's website. The exclusions were set to expire Sept. 30, but USTR said it will extend the exclusions for 45 days to give the agency more time to review comments submitted about a longer extension. The exclusions will now expire Nov. 14, it said.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit agreed with the Court of International Trade's rejection of CBP regulations that limit the amount of drawback that can be claimed on excise taxes, the CAFC said in a ruling. "We conclude that the expansive definition in the Rule, which extends drawback to situations in which tax is never paid or determined, conflicts with the unambiguous text of the statute," said the CAFC.

The ruling is a result of a National Association of Manufacturers challenge to the CBP regulations that deemed exportation without payment of excise taxes to be a form of drawback, and limited the amount of drawback to the amount of taxes paid on the export that forms the basis for the drawback claim. The now-invalidated provisions meant that drawback claims that rely on excise-unpaid exports (such as domestic wine never sold for domestic consumption) were a form of prohibited “double drawback.”

CBP announced the trade associations and companies represented on its 90-member task force that is currently developing new customs legislation as part of CBP’s 21st Century Customs Framework, as well as the identities of the 12 participants in the “focus group” that will vet the task force’s recommendations, in two documents released July 19. The task force includes 43 members from the trade community, as well as participants from CBP and other government agencies.

The Treasury Department and the State Bank of Vietnam announced July 19 that they have “reached agreement to address Treasury’s concerns about Vietnam’s currency practices as described in Treasury’s Report to Congress on the Macroeconomic and Foreign Exchange Policies of Major Trading Partners of the United States.” While the news release does not explicitly say this resolves the Section 301 investigation over currency at the U.S. Trade Representative, it does say, “Treasury will inform other U.S. government agencies that it has reached agreement with the SBV to address Treasury’s concerns about Vietnam’s currency practices.”

President Donald Trump did not violate procedural timelines when he raised tariffs on Turkish steel from 25 to 50% in August 2018, beyond the 90-day deadline and 15-day implementation period for initial Section 232 tariffs, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said in a July 13 opinion. Reversing a Court of International Trade decision, the Federal Circuit threw a wrench in a key argument against certain Section 232 tariffs that action beyond the statutory timelines should not be allowed.

“We conclude that the best reading of the statutory text … understood in context and in light of the evident purpose of the statute and the history of predecessor enactments and their implementation, is that the authority of the President includes authority to adopt and carry out a plan of action that allows adjustments of specific measures, including by increasing import restrictions, in carrying out the plan over time,” CAFC said.

The president made the determination that greater import restrictions were needed to achieve a certain domestic steel capacity "in a short period after the Secretary's finding and after the initial presidential action," the court said. The initial presidential action also allowed for a "continuing course of action" which includes raising tariff rates. Due to this, the tariff hike on Turkish steel did not violate the law, the court ruled.

The Court of International Trade will stop liquidation of unliquidated entries subject to the List 3 or 4A Section 301 China tariffs imported by the thousands of plaintiffs in the Section 301 litigation, a majority of judges on the three-judge CIT panel said in a July 6 opinion that granted a preliminary injunction. "To give the parties time to implement appropriate procedures, gather pertinent information, and otherwise take necessary action to comply with this order, the court will temporarily restrain liquidation of any unliquidated entries of merchandise imported from China by any plaintiffs in the Section 301 Cases which are subject to List 3 or List 4A duties," it said.

Dissenting from the majority of the panel's decision, Chief Judge Mark Barnett said that the plaintiffs failed to establish a likelihood of irreparable harm in absence of the injunction. Barnett said that there is no likelihood for irreparable harm for the plaintiffs since the court can simply issue reliquidation or a money judgment for the imports assessed the List 3 and 4A tariffs.

The International Trade Commission posted its mid-year update to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule. Publication had been “delayed due to technical difficulties,” the ITC website said. Changes take effect July 1.

CBP issued an interim final rule that implements several provisions included within the USMCA. The rule, which took effect July 1, implements USMCA language on import and export requirements, "general verifications and determinations of origin, commercial samples, goods re-entered after repair or alteration in Canada or Mexico, and penalties," among other things. Another interim final rule to implement other USMCA provisions will also be issued "at a later date," said CBP.

CBP also proposed regulatory changes "to apply the rules for all non-preferential origin determinations made by CBP for goods imported from Canada or Mexico."

CBP will be detaining silica-based products made by Hoshine Silicon Industry Co., Ltd. and its subsidiaries under a new withhold release order, the White House announced June 24. The agency said there is information that indicates that Hoshine used forced labor in manufacturing these products. The polysilicon produced in the Xinjiang region of China is a core material in solar panels made in Asia.

House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., issued a statement in response to the news: “Forced labor cannot be tolerated anywhere in the world. While I applaud President Biden for his actions today, Congress must come together to further address the systemic human rights abuses in Xinjiang. Our trade subcommittee will continue to act aggressively to remove these heinous practices from global supply chains. American consumers will not be complicit in modern-day slavery.”

The U.S. and European Union are ending the longest trade dispute in the history of the World Trade Organization, and are moving from litigation to cooperation, the European Commission said in a news release. The White House said the tariffs are suspended for five years, which is a "fresh start," but allows the U.S. "to reapply tariffs if we’re no longer competing on a level playing field." Should the EU "cross a red line and U.S. producers are not able to compete fairly and on a level playing field, the United States retains the flexibility to reactivate the tariffs that are being suspended," said U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai during a call with reporters.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a press conference June 15 that a working group will look at state support on a case by case basis to see if the level playing field is maintained. The White House said the working group will meet at least yearly. The U.S. summary also said that the EU and U.S. will cooperate on countering investments in either area by non-market actors, since that can lead to the appropriation of technology, and they will also cooperate to counter investments in China that are "influenced by non-market forces."

Goods from the United Kingdom, Spain, Turkey, Italy, Austria and India will face new 25% Section 301 tariffs in response to digital services taxes if negotiations don't produce a resolution, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said in a June 2 news release. The tariffs are suspended for up to 180 days, as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development continues to negotiate international tax agreements.

“Today’s actions provide time for those negotiations to continue to make progress while maintaining the option of imposing tariffs under Section 301 if warranted in the future,” she said.

President Donald Trump's addition of Section 232 tariffs on finished products of steel and aluminum was “invalid,” Court of International Trade Judges Timothy Stanceu and Jennifer Choe-Groves said in an April 5 ruling. The ruling is the result of a challenge from PrimeSource Building Products, which said the presidential proclamation that imposed the tariffs on steel and aluminum “derivatives” was improper because it was issued after the statutory deadline.

“Because the President issued Proclamation 9980 after the congressionally-delegated authority to adjust imports of the products addressed in that proclamation had expired, Proclamation 9980 was action outside of delegated authority,” the judges said. The third member of the CIT panel, Judge Miller Baker, dissented.

The Commerce Department is delaying a requirement for aluminum import licenses that had been set to take effect March 29, it said in a message on its website. The agency will soon publish a Federal Register notice again pushing back the effective date its agency’s Aluminum Import Monitoring System, which requires importers of aluminum or their customs brokers to submit information in an online portal to obtain an automatically issued license, then to submit the license number with entry summary documentation.

“This delay means that licenses will not be required for covered aluminum product imports beginning on March 29, 2021,” Commerce said. The message did not mention a new effective date. CBP, which on March 26 sent out a CSMS message reminding filers to include aluminum license numbers on e214s, did not immediately comment.

Brenda Smith, CBP executive assistant commissioner-trade, will retire at the end of the month, Acting CBP Commissioner Troy Miller said March 17 at the start of a Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee meeting.

The Senate approved House Ways and Means Chief Trade Counsel Katherine Tai to be the U.S. Trade Representative with no opposition. The Senate voted 98-0 in favor of the confirmation.

The 15% tariffs on civil aircraft and 25% tariffs on about 150 tariff lines of products including liquor, Italian food and beverages, lenses, Greek yogurt, Spanish pork and more were lifted at 12:01 a.m. March 11, and will remain suspended until midnight July 10.

The notice said that products entered into Foreign Trade Zones under privileged foreign status before 12:01 a.m. March 11 will still be subject to the additional duties when entered for consumption.

The European Union will drop its tariffs on U.S. exports on the Boeing retaliation list, and the U.S. will drop its Section 301 tariffs on EU products under the Airbus dispute, including food, wine and liquor, for four months, the EU announced March 5.

The U.S. and EU said in a joint statement that "the suspension will cover all tariffs both on aircraft as well as on non-aircraft products, and will become effective as soon as the internal procedures on both sides are completed."

The U.S. announced that it is suspending tariffs on U.K. goods levied as part of the Airbus dispute, beginning immediately, and for four months. The U.K. already suspended its tariffs on American goods over Boeing subsidies on Jan. 1. It, too, said it will keep tariffs off for four months.

"This will allow time to focus on negotiating a balanced settlement to the disputes, and begin seriously addressing the challenges posed by new entrants to the civil aviation market from non-market economies, such as China," the U.S. and the U.K. said in a joint statement. "This will benefit a wide range of industries on both sides of the Atlantic, and allow for focused settlement negotiations to ensure that our aerospace industries can finally see a resolution and focus on COVID recovery and other shared goals."

The Court of International Trade on March 1 issued a decision calling into question the ability to use first sale valuation on transactions involving non-market economies, including China. In a case on cookware imported by Meyer from a Chinese affiliate, CIT Senior Judge Thomas Aquilino held Meyer did not adequately prove that the sales were free of “any distortive nonmarket influences,” as required by a 1992 Federal Circuit decision on first sale involving Nissho Iwai.

“As a result of its consideration of the issues presented here, this court has doubts over the extent to which, if any, the ‘first sale’ test of Nissho Iwai was intended to be applied to transactions involving non-market economy participants or inputs,” said Aquilino. “In that regard, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit could provide clarification.”

CBP posted answers to set of frequently asked questions Feb. 12 about the withhold release order aimed at goods produced using forced labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The Jan. 13 WRO applies to cotton and tomato products produced in China’s Xinjiang province.

The Court of International Trade on Feb. 4 rejected a broad challenge to Section 232 tariffs on steel. Universal Steel Products, joined by several other importers, had challenged the Commerce Department report upon which all Section 232 steel tariffs were based, as well as President Donald Trump’s failure to set an expiration date for the tariff action, among other things. But the trade court found in favor of the government, holding the report was not a final action and could not be challenged, and that the president’s edict that the tariffs remain in effect so long as national security is threatened satisfied Section 232’s requirement that he set a “duration” for the tariffs.

The U.S. Trade Representative won't immediately impose new tariffs or take other action as a result of the Section 301 investigation into Vietnam's currency valuation practices, the agency said in a news release. While "USTR is not taking any specific actions in connection with the findings at this time," it "will continue to evaluate all available options," it said.

“Unfair acts, policies and practices that contribute to currency undervaluation harm U.S. workers and businesses, and need to be addressed,” said USTR Robert Lighthizer. “I hope that the United States and Vietnam can find a path for addressing our concerns.” USTR also released the investigation report and official notice.

CBP is issuing a new regional withhold release order on all cotton and tomato products grown and produced by entities operating in China’s Xinjiang province, said acting CBP Commissioner Mark Morgan and acting Department of Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Ken Cuccinelli on a call with reporters Jan. 13.

The WRO, which takes effect Jan. 13 and also applies to goods made in third-countries from inputs produced in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, follows a CBP investigation that found forced labor in supply chains for textiles and apparel, as well as tomato seeds, canned tomatoes and tomato sauce, Morgan said. CBP had issued a company specific WRO in early December that covered only the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.

New 25% percent tariffs on goods from France that were to begin Jan. 6 are suspended, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said in a news release Jan. 7. The tariffs were planned as a result of France's digital services tax and the suspension will allow the agency to complete investigations into other countries' DSTs,

"Given that these DST investigations are ongoing and have not yet reached any determinations on what, if any, trade action should be taken, the U.S. Trade Representative has determined that it is appropriate to suspend the action in the France DST investigation indefinitely," it said in a notice. The announcement follows days of confusion over whether the Jan. 6 tariffs were being implemented.

Provisions for new tariffs on certain goods from France were added to the tariff schedule the evening of Jan. 6, said an International Trade Commission spokesperson. New subheading 9903.90.01 and corresponding U.S. Note 22 implement the Section 301 tariffs announced by the U.S. Trade Representative in July in retaliation for France’s digital services tax. The additional 25% duty applies to French handbags, soaps and cosmetics. The new tariff provisions took effect Jan. 6, according to the ITC's change record.