Imports sustain an estimated 21.4 million net U.S. jobs, including a “net positive number” of employees in every state, said a Trade Partnership Worldwide report, “Imports Work for American Workers,” commissioned by the Consumer Technology Association, the National Retail Federation, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and six other business and trade associations.
Section 301 (too broad)
Lawyers speaking at the Foreign Trade Association’s World Trade Week event said CBP is already drowning because of the consequences of the massive increase in post-importation tariff exclusions, and they're expecting it to get worse. Michael Roll, from Roll & Harris trade law firm, said he's betting that the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will reopen the exclusion process for Section 301 tariffs before summer's over. But he expects it will take until late 2021 or early 2022 for exclusions to be granted, which means many imports that entered after exclusions expired, or that never had exclusions, will have been liquidated by the time the importers learn they didn't have to pay the tariff.
Golf clubs are commonly made with components from multiple countries of origin and may be subject to additional tariffs, depending on the origin, CBP said in a May 18 CSMS message. That is why importers of completed golf clubs are required to include origin information for each component, it said.
The Endless Frontier Act, a massive bill working its way through the Senate that aims to improve the United States' ability to compete economically with China, also addresses a number of issues relevant to importers, including enforcement of the forced labor statute, seizure of counterfeits, and progress on the issues that led to the Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of May 10-16.
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from May 10-14 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, in her second day of testimony on Capitol Hill, heard again and again from members of Congress who are hearing from companies in their districts that they want Section 301 tariff exclusions back. She heard repeatedly that the 9% countervailing duties on Canadian lumber are making a bad situation worse. And she heard that the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill and Generalized System of Preferences benefits program should be renewed. On each topic, both Democrats and Republicans shared concerns, though on GSP, Republicans only spoke of the cost to importers, while Democrats worried about the effects of GSP on the eligible countries. Tai testified for more than four hours in front of the House Ways and Means Committee on May 13.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of May 3-9.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai generally avoided being pinned down on timing as she was asked about rekindling trade negotiations with the United Kingdom and Kenya, the pause on tariffs on European imports, and a solution for steel overcapacity that could make way for the lifting of Section 232 tariffs.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters: