Christopher Kane, partner at Simon Gluck, expressed optimism over a recent U.S. Court of International Trade ruling striking down an extension of President Donald Trump's Section 232 tariffs to aluminum and steel derivatives (see 2104050049). He believes the ruling spells good news for the massive litigation involving more than 3,700 companies challenging the expansion of the Section 301 tariffs on goods from China. Although based on a different law, Kane believes CIT's April 5 ruling demonstrates the court's willingness to hold the president to account over laws and regulations. In the case of the derivatives, the tariff expansion was eliminated because it was imposed after a 105-day period during which the president can impose Section 232 tariffs after receiving a report on the need for the duties from the Commerce Department.
Section 301 tariff exclusion extensions
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will extend exclusions on goods used to treat COVID-19 from the Section 301 tariffs on goods from China, the USTR said in a notice on its website. The exclusions were previously set to expire at the end of March (see 2012230076).
Across dozens of pages of written answers to Senate Finance Committee members, U.S. trade representative nominee Katherine Tai often avoided directly answering questions, instead pledging to work with senators on their priorities. One of the most common questions posed to Tai was whether she would renew Section 301 exclusions that expired last year; as well, whether she would allow companies that were denied exclusions another chance at a request; and whether she would reopen the exclusion process.
CBP created Harmonized System Update (HSU) 2101 on Jan. 12, containing 389 Automated Broker Interface records and 72 Harmonized Tariff Schedule records, it said in a CSMS message. The changes reflect extensions for COVID-19 treatment Section 301 exclusions (see 2012230076) and increased tariffs on European Union goods (see 2012310010).
The International Trade Commission posted the 2021 Preliminary Edition of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule. The new HTS implements the removal of GSP benefits for many Thai products, as well as the redesignation of the Democratic Republic of the Congo as eligible for African Growth and Opportunity Act benefits, and the extension of the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act until 2020. New statistical breakouts are also added for many medical products, including those used in the treatment of COVID-19, as well as for industrial turbines and hemp seed, among other goods. Changes take effect Jan. 1, 2021, unless otherwise noted.
The International Trade Commission posted the 2021 Preliminary Edition of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule. The new HTS implements the removal of GSP benefits for many Thai products, as well as the redesignation of the Democratic Republic of the Congo as eligible for AGOA, and the extension of the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act until 2020. New statistical breakouts are also added for many medical products, including those used in the treatment of COVID-19, as well as for industrial turbines and hemp seed, among other goods. Changes take effect Jan. 1, 2021, unless otherwise noted.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories published in 2020 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference numbers.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will extend exclusions on goods used to treat COVID-19 from the Section 301 tariffs on goods from China, it said in a notice posted on the agency's website. “In light of the rising spread and ongoing efforts to combat COVID-19, the U.S. Trade Representative has determined that maintaining or re-imposing additional duties on certain products subject to the action no longer is appropriate and that the application of additional duties to these products could impact U.S. preparedness to address COVID-19,” it said.
Americans for Free Trade, a trade group opposed to Section 301 tariffs, wrote to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer asking that the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative extend Section 301 tariff exclusions scheduled to expire Dec. 31. “As American businesses continue to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, they should not have to face the uncertainty of tax increases on January 1 because of a reimposition of tariffs on previously excluded products. It remains unclear whether USTR intends to offer additional product exclusion extension opportunities for the remaining exclusions. We believe it is crucial for USTR to do so,” the letter said. The group also asked USTR to extend all product exclusions that are currently in force for at least six months.
The International Trade Commission on Oct. 14 issued Revision 23 to the 2020 Harmonized Tariff Schedule. The latest edition implements extensions to exclusions from Section 301 tariffs on products from China under new subheadings 9903.88.60 and 9903.88.61 (see 2010010038). A few technical corrections are also made to General Note 11 on USMCA.