The U.S. Trade Representative announced that Vietnam has committed to keep illegally traded timber out of the supply chain, so no trade action is warranted as a result of the Section 301 investigation. Vietnam agreed to improve customs enforcement at the border with high-risk source countries, and to collaborate on enforcement with those countries, in addition to other verification and seizure practices.
The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated Sept. 24. The following headquarters rulings were modified recently, according to CBP:
The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated Sept. 24. The following headquarters rulings were modified recently, according to CBP:
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from Sept. 20-24 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
Most trade groups and companies that have filed comments so far on extending Section 301 tariff exclusions on COVID-19 pandemic-related imports from China want those tariffs to continue to be waived. Comments were due Sept. 27. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced Sept. 27 that it will temporarily extend the exclusions to Nov. 14, rather than Sept. 30, so that agency employees can have more time to analyze public comments (see 2109270044).
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will allow a short-term extension for the exclusions on goods used to treat COVID-19 from Section 301 tariffs on goods from China, it said in a notice posted on the agency's website. The exclusions were set to expire Sept. 30, but USTR said it will extend the exclusions for 45 days to give the agency more time to review comments submitted about a longer extension.
The U.S. Trade Representative will allow a short-term extension for the exclusions on goods used to treat COVID-19 from Section 301 tariffs on goods from China, it said in a notice posted on the agency's website. The exclusions were set to expire Sept. 30, but USTR said it will extend the exclusions for 45 days to give the agency more time to review comments submitted about a longer extension. The exclusions will now expire Nov. 14, it said.
American Apparel and Footwear Association CEO Steve Lamar told U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai that freight rates and delays are a crisis, and wrote, "We implore you ... to provide the kind of immediate and short-term relief that companies need today to survive this existential threat. We urge you to retroactively reinstate the expired Section 301 tariff exclusions. Further, we urge you to suspend the application of all Section 301 tariffs going forward. Combined, these actions would immediately make millions of dollars available to companies that are hardest hit by the shipping crisis."
Trade professionals and a trade scholar, talking on a panel that compared the Trump and Biden administrations' trade policies, said that not as much has changed on trade as might have been expected. Christine McDaniel, an economist at George Mason University, said she doesn't expect any of the Section 301 tariffs or the steel and aluminum tariffs to be lifted before the end of 2021. "I haven’t seen any indication they’re going to pull back on the tariffs," she said during a seminar at the Virginia Small Business Development Center on Sept. 21. "I’ve heard people say that the Trump trade policy is just being continued by the Biden administration, minus the rhetoric. You can make the argument for that."
Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Ill., introduced a bill that would offer the more generous unemployment and retraining benefits under Trade Adjustment Assistance to people who lost their jobs because their companies' exports declined after retaliatory tariffs. The bill, whose text was published Sept. 20, says the retaliation could be as a result of tariffs under Section 232, Section 301 or the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Currently, TAA covers job loss due to import competition in goods and services.