CBP created Harmonized System Update (HSU) 2004 on April 27, containing 8,983 Automated Broker Interface records and 1,845 Harmonized Tariff Schedule records, it said in a CSMS message. The update includes recent Section 301 tariff exclusions. The update also covers changes to the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program, including the removal of Thailand from the program, which took effect April 25 (see 1910280044).
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for April 20-24 in case they were missed.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative granted iRobot an exclusion to the List 3 Section 301 tariffs on the robotic vacuum cleaners it imports from China under Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading 8508.11.00.00. iRobot applied for the exemption July 1 and based its argument partly on plans to shift production to Malaysia from China. It began producing entry-level vacuums in Malaysia in November, and said it will source additional models there later in 2020. The exclusion is retroactive to Sept. 24, 2018, when the List 3 tariffs took effect at 10%, and is valid through Aug. 7, 2020. The Trump administration hiked List 3 tariffs to 25% on March 2, 2019. iRobot’s was one of 107 exemptions granted for “specially prepared product descriptions” covering 157 “separate exclusion requests,” USTR said (see 2004230010). iRobot is “pleased that the USTR determined that our rationale for an exclusion was appropriate, particularly in light of the tangible steps we have taken to establish our manufacturing activities in Malaysia,” CEO Colin Angle said in an email. “As the largest American pure-play robotics company, with over 800 U.S.-based employees and roughly half of our revenue generated domestically, we believe that an exclusion not only further supports iRobot's ability to maintain its technological and category leadership but it also helps ensure that robotics is an industry in which the U.S. continues to lead the world.”
The National Association of Manufacturers is arguing that Section 301 tariffs should be lowered or at least suspended “to spur economic growth and job creation,” and, where Section 301 refunds were already due, accelerate the process. Speeding up tariff refunds and duty drawback payments would allow companies “to rehire and reinvest as soon as possible,” the trade group said.
The Office of the U.S Trade Representative plans to issue some new product exclusions from Section 301 tariffs on the third list of products from China (see 2004230003), it said in a notice. 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 subheading 9903.88.45 will be used for these excluded products.
A steel and aluminum importer filed a lawsuit April 21 challenging the importer-specific exclusion process for Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum products as unconstitutional. Thyssenkrupp says the exclusions, which, unlike Section 301 exclusions, are only granted to the importer that requested them, violate the “Uniformity Clause” of the Constitution.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative issued a new group of product exclusions from the third group of Section 301 tariffs on goods from China. The new exclusions from the tariffs include "one 10-digit HTSUS subheading, which covers 20 separate exclusion requests, and 107 specially prepared product descriptions, which cover 157 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.
The International Trade Commission recently issued two revisions to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule, largely to implement changes that had been previously announced to exclusions from Section 301 tariffs on goods from China and changes to tariffs on goods from the European Union imposed as part of the large civil aircraft dispute. Both revisions were issued by the ITC in March.
The evaluation of exclusion requests related to COVID-19 is too slow, two senators say, and they're asking that the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative eliminate duties on all imports covered by Section 301 that are needed to fight the pandemic. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., and Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., sent a letter to USTR Robert Lighthizer April 20, asking him to “work with [Health and Human Services (HHS)], the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Department of Commerce, industry, and other relevant experts to develop a list of inputs, substitutes, machinery, and other products that U.S. companies need to meet the current demand for medical supplies, that will be subject to 301 tariff exemptions. U.S. companies must be able to access the materials needed to manufacture critical medical supplies without the added cost of 301 tariffs for the duration of the COVID-19 emergency, and they should not be subjected to the lengthy process of submitting tariff exemption requests for each individual input required to make products essential for addressing the ongoing pandemic. Time is of the essence, and these exclusions should be issued as soon as possible.”
The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated on April 20. The following headquarters rulings not involving carriers were modified on April 17 or April 20, according to CBP: