The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative issued a new set of product exclusions from the 25 percent Section 301 tariffs on goods from China. The exclusions include products from the third list of Section 301 goods. The new exclusions "are reflected in 9 ten-digit HTSUS subheadings and 35 specially prepared product descriptions, which cover 75 separate exclusion requests," according to the notice.
President Donald Trump tweeted Dec. 12 that U.S. and China negotiators are “Getting VERY close to a BIG DEAL with China. They want it, and so do we!” However, Trump has said before that the two sides were very close -- including two months ago -- and nothing came of it. Numerous media outlets reported Dec. 12 that administration officials said an agreement in principle has been reached between China and the U.S., but no announcement had been made by press time. Several media outlets reported that the U.S. was willing to cancel tariffs set to take effect Dec. 15 and cut existing Section 301 tariffs by half, and an adviser to the president said Trump would cut tariffs, but did not say by how much. An announcement is expected on Dec. 13.
CBP's proposal to modify rulings on women's shirts with partial openings and no means of closure would result in “overturning decades of precedent that CBP itself established, and longtime industry practice,” the American Apparel and Footwear Association said in Dec. 6 comments to the agency. The proposed change would “have a huge tariff impact on what is one of the largest apparel categories on the market -- women’s cotton tops,” the group said. CBP proposed the modification in the Nov. 6 Customs Bulletin (see 1911080014), and comments were due Dec. 6.
President Donald Trump should go forward with the planned Dec. 15 tariff increase on goods from China, the Coalition for a Prosperous America said in a Dec. 10 news release. The CPA noted that some 260 U.S. companies sent Trump a letter on Dec. 9 that offered support for the Section 301 tariffs. While the letter doesn't make a specific mention of the Dec. 15 tariffs, the companies were “registering their support for the president’s actions ahead of a December 15 final list of Chinese imports that will be subject to tariffs,” CPA said. CPA Chair Dan DiMicco said “the American people support President Trump’s efforts to confront China” and “this letter includes a wide range of industries that have repeatedly been targeted by China.” There's been some recent indication that the scheduled Dec. 15 tariff increase will not happen at that time (see 1912090057).
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Dec. 2-6 in case they were missed.
Fossil Group filed for an exemption to the 15 percent List 4A Section 301 tariffs it has paid since Sept. 1 on the traditional watches it imports from China under tariff subheading 9102.11.2520, said a Dec. 6 posting in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative’s public docket. “Fossil continues to look for ways to diversify its sourcing for traditional watches,” the vendor said. It recently invested in a factory in India that has “capacity to address our product needs” for the local market, but can’t “address our product needs in the global markets,” it said. “Watch manufacturing is a highly specialized skill which cannot be readily duplicated.” Moving traditional watch manufacturing out of China “is not feasible at this time, especially in the very challenging market for traditional watches that Fossil has been experiencing over the last couple of years,” it said. The exemption request doesn’t list Fossil smartwatch imports, which also have List 4A exposure. Fossil also requested exemptions on four classifications of watch straps imported under subheadings 9102.11.10.30, 9102.11.25.30, 9102.11.30.30 and 9102.11.45.30, plus three on the watch cases it imports under subheadings 9102.11.10.20, 9102.11.30.20 and 9102.11.45.20.
TV imports to the U.S. became a much more Mexico-centric business in October, the second full month of 15 percent Section 301 List 4A tariff exposure for finished sets from China, according to recently released Census Bureau statistics accessed through the International Trade Commission’s DataWeb tool. More than two-thirds of October’s TV unit imports to the U.S. came from Mexico, while China’s share plummeted to half its October 2018 level, DataWeb said.
The International Trade Commission issued Revision 19 to the 2019 Harmonized Tariff Schedule. The latest update is to add the latest round of exemptions from tranche 3 Section 301 tariffs on products from China, published by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on Nov. 29 (see 1911260056). The exclusions are described in new U.S. Note 20(nn) to subchapter III of chapter 99, and are classifiable in new subheading 9903.88.35. The ITC also made conforming changes to other tariff schedule provisions on Section 301 tariffs. The exclusions take effect retroactive to Sept. 24, 2018, when the third tranche of tariffs first came into force.
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said he doesn't expect the Dec. 15 round of tariffs on consumer goods from China to go into effect then, according to Bloomberg News.“I do not believe those will be implemented and I think we may see some backing away,” Purdue said at a conference in Indianapolis on Dec. 9.
CBP added on Dec. 5 the ability in ACE for importers to file entries with recently excluded goods in the third tranche of Section 301 tariffs, it said in a CSMS message. Filers of imported products that were granted an exclusion (see 1911260056) should report the regular Chapters 17, 28, 39, 68, 69, 73, 83, 84, 85, 87, 89 and 94 Harmonized Tariff Schedule number, as well as subheading 9903.88.35, CBP said in the message. “Importers shall not submit the corresponding Chapter 99 HTS number for the Section 301 duties when” subheading 9903.88.35 is submitted, CBP said.