CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
CBP is informing the Office of Management and Budget that it is revising instructions for Form 7501, which is used for entry summary filing, to clarify what defines country of melt and pour for steel imports and what defines country of smelted and cast for aluminum imports, according to a Federal Register notice.
Since the United Kingdom's National Health Service has agreed to pay more for new medicines, the Trump administration is pledging "to exempt U.K.-origin pharmaceuticals, pharmaceutical ingredients, and medical technology from Section 232 tariffs and will refrain from targeting U.K. pharmaceutical pricing practices in any future Section 301 investigation for the duration of President [Donald] Trump’s term."
Law firms are advising clients of changes to Mexican customs laws that begin Jan. 1, including that customs brokers will be liable if their clients provide false or inaccurate information.
CBP recently created Harmonized System Update 2540, containing two Automated Broker Interface records and one Harmonized Tariff Schedule record. It includes updates pursuant to the recent executive order cutting reciprocal tariffs on agricultural goods.
EU ministers and Parliament members this week urged the bloc to respond forcefully to China’s rare earth export restrictions if Beijing doesn’t repeal them or swiftly grant export licenses to European companies. Some also said they’re skeptical Beijing’s one-year suspension for some of its export controls will last.
The U.K. on Nov. 26 opened a public comment period for its planned elimination of duty exemptions for low-value imports. The country for several months had been reviewing whether to remove the tariff exemption for imports costing under 135 pounds, and the finance ministry said it expects to eliminate the exemption by March 2029 "at the latest."
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced Nov. 26 that it will extend the 178 currently existing exclusions from Section 301 tariffs on China until Nov. 10, 2026, as expected (see 2511030005). The exclusions had been set to expire Nov. 29, but the Trump administration agreed to extend them as part of a deal that also cut tariffs on China by 10% and halted ship-docking fees in return for China pausing export controls on rare earths, lowering retaliatory tariffs and stopping its own retaliatory ship fees.
Former trade negotiators said the removal of reciprocal tariffs on agricultural goods not grown at scale in the U.S. is a harbinger of things to come, as the administration starts to recognize that tariffs are politically unpopular.
The Court of International Trade on Nov. 26 granted the government's motion for rehearing in a customs dispute on the classification of certain radial, web and chordal segments imported by Honeywell and used in airplane brakes, changing the classification of the parts to "fabrics" under Harmonized Tariff Schedule heading 6307. Judge Mark Barnett reversed his previous holding that the goods are "parts of an aircraft" under heading 8803, subjecting the items at issue to a 7% duty under subheading 6307.90.98.