A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson in Beijing sidestepped questions on Feb. 14 about President Donald Trump’s remarks suggesting he might be willing to let the March 1 deadline “slide” for raising the 10 percent Section 301 tariffs to 25 percent on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports if U.S and Chinese negotiators are close to reaching a comprehensive trade agreement. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer are in Beijing for the latest round of trade talks. “We all hope that a deal could be reached,” the spokesperson said. “At present all we could do is ensure that the two delegations could concentrate on having a good round of consultation and work for a mutually accepted and mutually beneficial outcome, which is also to the benefit of the world.”
Section 301 (too broad)
CBP created Harmonized System Update (HSU) 1901 on Feb. 11, containing 397 Automated Broker Interface records and 89 harmonized tariff records, it said in a CSMS message. The update includes changes mandated by Presidential Proclamation 9834 (see 1812270038), as well as adjustments required by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative's announcement of new exemptions from Section 301 tariffs on China (see 1902110018). Modifications required by the verification of the 2019 Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) are included as well.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Feb. 4-8 in case they were missed.
CBP on Feb. 10 added the ability in ACE for importers to file entries with exclusions from Section 301 duties, it said in a CSMS message issued two days earlier. Filers of imported products that were granted an exclusion should report the regular chapter 1-97 Harmonized Tariff Schedule number, as well as subheading 9905.88.05 for products subject to Section 301 duties on products from China but that have been granted an exemption by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. “Do not submit the corresponding Chapter 99 HTS number for the Section 301 duties when HTS 9903.88.05 is submitted,” CBP said.
Drawback filers may “effective immediately” submit claims for refunds on Section 301 or Section 201 duties, CBP said in a Feb. 8 CSMS message. Filers will no longer receive error messages related to unit of measure (UOM) mismatches that had been occurring “because the underlying import did not have a UOM associated to a Chapter 99” tariff number or because they had left the mandatory UOM field blank, CBP said.
Tariffs on allies make it harder to convince China to change its abuses, senators said, as members from both parties held a press conference to criticize Trump administration tariff policies. They were kicking off a lobbying effort from business owners and farmers around the country called Tariffs Hurt the Heartland, which began Feb. 6.
The National Retail Federation is optimistic about a de-escalation of the U.S.-China trade war but won’t close the door on joining a legal challenge if the Trump administration hikes the 10 percent Section 301 tariffs to 25 percent after March 1, CEO Matthew Shay told us Feb. 6. “I’m not sure we’re ready to go there yet,” Shay said of a court challenge.
With less than a month before the 10 percent Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports are scheduled to rise to 25 percent (see 1812140034), resolving the U.S.-China trade dispute “is a tall order, under the best of circumstances,” Baker McKenzie customs lawyer Ted Murphy blogged Monday. “By most accounts, the two sides are still far apart” in their quest to negotiate a comprehensive trade deal by the March 2 deadline, he said. Murphy doubts “a substantive solution will be reached in the next 30 days.” The “question is whether China’s offer to purchase more U.S. products” and impose “some small structural changes” in its trade practices will be sufficient to get the Trump administration to “declare victory” and again postpone the tariff hike while the two sides keep talking, he said.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Jan. 28 - Feb. 1 in case they were missed.
A domestic trade association filed petitions on Feb. 1 with the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission requesting new antidumping and countervailing duties on fabricated structural steel from Canada, Mexico and China. Commerce will now decide whether to begin AD/CVD investigations on fabricated structural steel that could eventually result in the assessment of AD/CV duties. The petition, filed by the American Institute of Steel Construction, targets steel mill products of various shapes that have been fabricated (and typically custom-manufactured) into articles suitable for erection or assembly into a variety of structures.