CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
Section 301 Tariffs
Section 301 Tariffs are levied under the Trade Act of 1974 which grants the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) authority to investigate and take action to protect U.S. rights from trade agreements and respond to foreign trade practices. Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 provides statutory means allowing the United States to impose sanctions on foreign countries violating U.S. trade agreements or engaging in acts that are “unjustifiable” or “unreasonable” and burdensome to U.S. commerce. Prior to 1995, the U.S. frequently used Section 301 to eliminate trade barriers and pressure other countries to open markets to U.S. goods.
The founding of the World Trade Organization in 1995 created an enforceable dispute settlement mechanism, reducing U.S. use of Section 301. The Trump Administration began using Section 301 in 2018 to unilaterally enforce tariffs on countries and industries it deemed unfair to U.S. industries. The Trump Administration adopted the policy shift to close what it deemed a persistent "trade gap" between the U.S. and foreign governments that it said disadvantaged U.S. firms. Additionally, it pointed to alleged weaknesses in the WTO trade dispute settlement process to justify many of its tariff actions—particularly against China. The administration also cited failures in previous trade agreements to enhance foreign market access for U.S. firms and workers.
The Trump Administration launched a Section 301 investigation into Chinese trade policies in August 2017. Following the investigation, President Trump ordered the USTR to take five tariff actions between 2018 and 2019. Almost three quarters of U.S. imports from China were subject to Section 301 tariffs, which ranged from 15% to 25%. The U.S. and China engaged in negotiations resulting in the “U.S.-China Phase One Trade Agreement”, signed in January 2020.
The Biden Administration took steps in 2021 to eliminate foreign policies subject to Section 301 investigations. The administration has extended and reinstated many of the tariffs enacted during the Trump administration but is conducting a review of all Section 301 actions against China.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is removing two previously approved exclusions from the fourth list of Section 301 tariffs on goods from China, it said in a notice. The deletions “correct technical errors in previously announced exclusions,” it said. The agency is deleting exclusions for “Tumblers or disposable graduated liners for pitchers, of plastics, of a kind used in healthcare facilities (described in statistical reporting number 3924.10.4000)” and “Manually operated pill or tablet crushers of plastics, presented with attachable pouches of plastics for capturing and storing the resulting powders (described in statistical reporting number 8479.82.0080),” it said. The action is effective for “goods entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption” as of Sept. 1, 2019.
A U.S. manufacturer seeks the imposition of new antidumping duties on walk-behind lawn mowers from China and Vietnam, as well as countervailing duties on walk-behind lawn mowers from China, it said in petitions filed with the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission May 26. Commerce will now decide whether to begin AD/CVD investigations, which could result in the imposition of permanent AD/CV duty orders and the assessment of AD and CV duties on importers.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, “No reasonable person can assert today that Hong Kong maintains a high degree of autonomy from China, given facts on the ground,” in a statement May 27 to Congress that Hong Kong no longer warrants the same treatment under U.S. laws as it did before the handover to China in 1997.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative issued some new product exclusions from Section 301 tariffs on the third list of products from China, according to a pre-publication copy of a notice posted to the agency’s website May 21 (see 2005220014). The product exclusions apply retroactively to Sept. 24, 2018, the date the tariffs on the third list took effect, and will remain in effect until Aug. 7, 2020. New Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the U.S. subheading 9903.88.48 will be used for these products.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative issued another group of product exclusions from the third group of Section 301 tariffs on goods from China. The new exclusions from the tariffs include "seventeen 10-digit HTSUS subheadings, which respond to 33 separate exclusion requests, and 61 specially prepared product descriptions, which respond to 70 separate exclusion requests," according to the notice. The product exclusions apply retroactively to Sept. 24, 2018, the date the third set of tariffs took effect. The exclusions will remain in effect until Aug. 7, 2020.
Even as UPS officials warned traders that the date of entry into force for the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement will not be postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic responses, they said all the details needed to comply won't be ready by July 1. Penny Naas, senior vice president for international public affairs at UPS, said it's not just the auto rules of origin that are “going to be provisional” in USMCA. She said that government officials will still be working on some other areas after it goes into effect. The global shipping company is in close contact with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
CBP has assessed about $62 billion in duties under the major trade remedies started during the Trump administration as of May 13, according to CBP's trade statistics page. That includes $51.4 billion in duties from the Section 301 tariffs on goods from China, and $486.1 million in Section 301 tariffs on goods from the European Union. CBP also has assessed about $7 billion under the Section 232 tariffs on steel and $2.1 billion under tariffs on aluminum. The Section 201 trade remedies on washing machines, washing machine parts and solar cells account for $1.7 billion in assessed tariffs. CBP's statistics account for refunds provided to importers.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will grant extensions to 13 exclusions from the first list of Section 301 tariffs on China that were due to expire May 14, it said in a pre-publication copy of a notice posted to its website. The exclusions that weren't extended will expire May 14.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative issued another set of product exclusions from the fourth group of Section 301 tariffs on goods from China. The new exclusions from the tariffs include "three 10-digit HTSUS subheadings and five specially prepared product descriptions, which together respond to 27 separate exclusion requests," according to the notice. The product exclusions apply retroactively to Sept. 1, 2019, the date the fourth set of tariffs took effect. The exclusions will remain in effect until Sept. 1.