The Court of International Trade on Oct. 7 sent a customs classification dispute on truck steps to a bench trial after finding that the undisputed facts are insufficient for conducting a principal use analysis on whether the products are "side protective attachments." Judge Jennifer Choe-Groves held that while a Section 301 exclusion for "side protective attachments" is a principal use provision, and not a provision for an individual product, the court can't at this time properly assess the imports at issue under a principal use framework.
Reps. Rick Crawford, R-Ark., and Frank Mrvan, D-Ind., the leaders of the Congressional Steel Caucus, told Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo that fabricated structural steel and prestressed concrete strand need to be subject to 25% Section 232 tariffs, because "bad actors" are exporting the goods to avoid the 25% tariffs on steel.
CBP is clarifying how the ACE Entry Type 86 Test governing de minimis shipments applies to customer returns under Chapter 98 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the U.S., according to an Oct. 4 cargo systems message. The agency said a Chapter 98 classification is not applicable if using the Section 321 duty exemption under Type 86. The merchandise would still enter duty-free under Type 86, but the consignee will be subject to the $800/day de minimis limit, CBP said. "Filers should assess whether filing under the Entry Type 86 or filing a formal or informal entry under Chapter 98 is more advantageous when processing returns, as both are permissible," it said.
Sandler Travis managing partner Lenny Feldman said that CBP decided to delay an ACE validation for de minimis shipments to a recipient that would exceed $800 a day, because "they realized when this hits, there's going to be a significant amount of cargo that's going to be above the threshold."
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Questions about how to define date of arrival and when the 15-day window to file a cargo release dominated CBP’s Oct. 1 call with the trade on issues related to the labor strike at U.S. East Coast and Gulf Coast ports.
A labor strike at U.S. East Coast and Gulf Coast ports appears poised to occur just after midnight on Oct. 1, despite any last-ditch efforts as of press time to prevent the strike from occurring.
The Commerce Department's International Trade Administration Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA) has published a new 12-month cap on duty- and quota-free benefits for imports of apparel articles assembled in beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries using regional and third-country fabric.
Rep. Jared Golden, a Maine Democrat representing a district with a majority of Donald Trump voters, has introduced a bill to impose a blanket 10% additional tariff on all imports, an echo of Trump's original proposal. The former president later said he might impose a 20% tariff on those imports.
A hearing about the Time to Choose Act, a bipartisan bill that would ban consultants and other service providers from working both with the U.S. government and Chinese-owned companies, Senate Homeland Security Committee ranking member Rand Paul, R-Ky., said he agreed with a witness who said it could create a slippery slope.