International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
Pillows made of Chinese fabric, but constructed in Mexico, are considered Chinese-origin for tariff purposes and subject to Section 301 measures, CBP headquarters said in a recently released ruling.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is amending two exclusions from Section 301 tariffs to correct the description of one and conform the tariff number to recent tariff schedule changes of the other, it said in a notice. The affected exclusions are found at U.S. Notes 20(ttt)(iv)(42) and 20(ttt)(iii)(36) to subchapter III of Chapter 99. Both exclusions were recently extended through September 2023 (see 2212160052).
The head of the Ways and Means Committee's Trade Subcommittee said that the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program never should have lapsed for two years, and he believes there's interest among House Democrats and Republicans "to get this done in a direct fashion that is timely and useful."
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The Court of International Trade held oral arguments on Feb. 7 in the massive litigation over the lists 3 and 4A Section 301 tariffs. During the nearly two-hour affair, Judges Mark Barnett, Claire Kelly and Jennifer Choe-Groves probed the parties' positions on whether the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative complied with the Administrative Procedure Act by properly considering comments made on the proposed tariffs when imposing the duties on $500 billion of Chinese goods (In Re Section 301 Cases, CIT # 21-00052).
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is extending exclusions until May 15 on 81 medical products that would otherwise be subject to Section 301 duties, according to a pre-publication version of a Federal Register notice posted to its website. It also is seeking comments on whether the exclusions should be renewed past that time. The comment portal at http://comments.USTR.gov will open Feb. 6 and will close just before midnight on March 7. The exclusions had previously been scheduled to expire Feb. 28.
Fourteen Republican senators, led by Florida's Sen. Marco Rubio, wrote to the treasury secretary and secretary of state as the Cabinet officials traveled to China to meet with President Xi Jinping.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Jan. 23-29:
While CBP rulings on country of origin show there are ways to keep China in the supply chain and still avoid Section 301 tariffs, Thompson Hine attorneys, during a webinar on what to expect in trade in 2023, said that if your product is auto parts, electric vehicle battery components, chemicals, pharmaceuticals or critical minerals, your chance of avoiding tariffs or other regulatory restrictions is not great.