The escalating trade rhetoric between the U.S. and China should make all companies “realize (if you have not already) that this is not a temporary dispute and is not likely to be resolved anytime soon,” customs lawyer Ted Murphy with Baker & McKenzie blogged on Aug. 9. “The two sides are doubling down and digging in.” With 2020 elections “inching closer” and China’s 70th birthday of the People's Republic festivities set for October, “the political considerations associated with these events make it less likely that a deal will be reached,” he said. “As a result, companies should be re-examining/re-adjusting their supply chains and pursuing additional Section 301 mitigation strategies,” while taking “a view to the medium/long term,” Murphy said.

Generalized System of Preferences program duty savings in June fell by about 18 percent compared with June last year, to $66 million, the Coalition for GSP said in a blog post. That decline seems to reflect the first full month without Turkey's eligibility in the program (see 1905170075) and slightly less than a month without India's eligibility (see 1906050043). "The $15 million year-over-year drop was the largest decline in GSP savings since the 2008-2009 financial crisis," the group said. While the savings from other countries grew by about 23 percent, or $12.5 million, that wasn't enough to offset the losses of India and Turkey, the group said. Using state-specific data, in many cases the "declines were wholly attributable to lost GSP for India and Turkey, leaving little chance that savings will bounce back in July," it said.

Although there have been no signs of retail weakness and virtually no signs of inflation from the U.S.-China trade war so far, the National Retail Federation's David French said, "Tariffs thus far have only been on the margin of the consumer economy. What has happened to date has not been indicative of the future." Joann Fabrics and Crafts stores have been on the leading edge of consumer effects, its CEO told reporters Aug. 7 on a conference call organized by the NRF. He said almost half of what they import from China was on List 3, and therefore has a 25 percent tariff.

Tariffs Hurt the Heartland says importers paid $6 billion in tariffs in June, up $2.5 billion, or 74 percent, from the same month in 2018. The report, based on Census data, covers the first month when Section 301 tariffs on $200 billion in imports from China were at 25 percent rather than 10 percent. The advocacy group also noted that June was the 11th month in a row that American exports targeted for retaliation declined by more than 15 percent.

A third party logistics provider in Toronto will offer a new service to take advantage of Section 321 de minimis exemptions, the company said in an Aug. 7 news release. Stalco, the 3PL, will let "U.S. sellers have their inventory shipped from countries, such as China, directly to Stalco’s distribution centre in Canada," it said. "Where applicable, duty is paid to Canada Customs (CBSA) on the cost of goods," it said. "Stalco then picks, packs and ships the client’s U.S. consumer orders and automatically files for a refund with CBSA on the previously paid duty, on the seller’s behalf. Consumer orders with a value less than US $800 do not attract duty on entry to the USA when imported under the Section 321 clearance type." This service "allows companies to eliminate their duty costs when selling goods directly to U.S. consumers," the company said.

Even at only 10 percent, the List 4 Section 301 tariffs due to take effect Sept. 1 on up to $300 billion worth of Chinese imports “would have a much larger impact on the U.S. tech sector” than the previous three rounds of 25 percent duties, an Aug. 5 S&P Global Ratings report said. The List 4 tariffs would “significantly raise costs for manufacturers and prices for consumers,” much more so than the current tariffs, it said.

Avalara, a tax compliance software company, bought Portway International, Avalara said in an Aug. 2 news release. Portway, which is based in Canada "provides customers with Harmonized System classifications and outsourced customs brokerage services." Scott McFarlane, CEO of Avalara, said that by "combining Portway’s experience and knowledge of cross-border compliance with Avalara’s advanced technologies and expansive product content, we can help businesses reach new customers in new regions with confidence.” Terms of the deal weren't released.

The U.S. imported 10.8 million laptops from China in June under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule’s 8471.30.01 product code, according to Census Bureau data accessed Aug. 5 through the International Trade Commission’s DataWeb tool. That’s nearly a 38 percent spike from the 7.8 million shipped here in May and a 49.1 percent increase from the 7.2 million imported in June 2018, the data show.

RH "expects no impact to Fiscal 2019 or Fiscal 2020 financial results from the tariffs imposed on new product categories imported from China effective September 1, 2019," the luxury furniture company said in an Aug. 1 news release. "The impacted product categories represent less than 1% of total inventory receipts for fiscal 2019 and less than 2% of anticipated total inventory receipts for fiscal 2020," it said. Also, "since the vast majority of the impacted product categories are textile based, we have multiple sourcing alternatives outside of China that the Company has been evaluating."

The criminal charges filed against a China-based aluminum extrusions manufacturer, its owner and several related companies over tariff evasion (see 1907310040) is good news for the aluminum extrusion industry, the Aluminum Extruders Council said in an email. The charges allege that Zhongtian Liu, his company China Zhongwang Holdings, and several other companies controlled by Liu, including Perfectus, imported aluminum extrusions but declared them exempt from antidumping and countervailing duties. "ZhongWang and its affiliates have been an ongoing and disruptive force in the U.S. aluminum industry, especially regarding aluminum extrusions," the AEC said. "ZhongWang and its affiliates dumped tens of millions of pounds of aluminum extrusions into the U.S. market for months leading up to our victory in our Fair Trade Case. Although the shipments stopped after the orders took place, soon afterward extrusions were being shipped into Mexico by ZhongWang and stored in the desert. Later, fake pallets, comprised solely of aluminum extrusions, began entering the United States. Once uncovered, the AEC launched its scope clarification case, in which the Department of Commerce sided with the industry and declared the fake pallets were covered merchandise and thus subject to duties. At every turn, the AEC was actively involved in thwarting ZhongWang’s attempt to avoid duties."