The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated Aug. 10. The following headquarters rulings were modified recently, according to CBP:
Section 301 (too broad)
Car seat frames assembled in Mexico that include various Chinese-origin components aren't subject to Section 301 duties because the components are substantially transformed in Mexico, CBP said in a recent ruling. The ruling came in response to a request from Page-Fura lawyer Jeremy Page, who presented four scenarios that use different countries of origin for the components. Each of the scenarios involves similar production processes.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Aug. 2-8:
CBP's plans to extend the Part 102 marking rules from NAFTA to USMCA determinations of country of origin for nonpreferential claims and procurement under USMCA (see 2107010045) lacks the legal justifications needed to finalize the proposal, Novolex Holdings, a packaging conglomerate owned by the Carlyle Group, said in comments to the agency. "As proposed, such origin determinations would no longer abide by the precedent developed in over a century of determinations by the federal courts," the company said. The comments were posted Aug. 11 in the docket.
Section 301 sample case plaintiffs HMTX Industries and Jasco Products “persuasively argue” that the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative “clearly exceeded its authority” under the 1974 Trade Act when it imposed the “massive” lists 3 and 4A tariffs on “virtually all imports” from China “without connecting them to the underlying investigation of China’s trade practices,” said the Consumer Technology Association, the National Retail Federation and five other trade groups Aug. 9 in an amicus brief in docket 1:21-cv-52 at the U.S. Court of International Trade.
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from Aug. 2-6 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
More than 30 trade groups, led by the U.S.-China Business Council, are asking the Biden administration to retroactively restore product exclusions that expired last year, open a new exclusion application process "and continue negotiations with China to remove both nations’ counterproductive tariffs as soon as possible." In an Aug. 5 letter, the groups said China followed through on phase one promises to open to financial services providers and eliminate market access barriers for beef and some fruits and grains. They acknowledged that China is not on track to meet its purchase commitments, and said that China needs to be prodded to fully implement some other structural commitments, "particularly in the areas of biotechnology, patent linkage, services (including financial services), and protection of intellectual property rights."
An annual survey of U.S. firms with operations in China that are members of the U.S.-China Business Council found that about 80% of firms said that U.S.-China tensions affected their businesses. Of that group, about half said it caused lost sales in China; about a quarter said they lost sales due to Chinese retaliatory tariffs.
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from July 26-30 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative released a technical correction Aug. 3 to an existing Section 301 product exclusion to make it conform with changes to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule code published July 1. “Effective with respect to goods entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on July 1, 2021, U.S. note 20(qqq)(4) to subchapter III of chapter 99 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States is modified by deleting '3808.94.5090' and inserting '3808.94.5090 prior to July 1, 2021; 3808.94.5080 or 3808.94.5095 effective July 1, 2021' in lieu thereof.”