The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is publishing its latest list of product exclusions from the first tranche of $34 billion in Section 301 tariffs on China (see 1905090067). This fourth list of exclusions includes full tariff schedule subheadings, as well as 35 subsets of tariff numbers in chapters 84, 85 and 90. The new exclusions take effect retroactively from July 6, 2018, when the $34 billion in tariffs originally entered into force, and will remain for one year following publication of USTR’s notice.
Section 301 tariff exclusion extensions
Importers have some options to preserve refunds on entries subject to Section 232 or Section 301 tariffs while awaiting a decision on exclusion requests, a CBP official said during a May 9 conference call. An importer can request an extension to the liquidation, the official said. Importers also can file a protest after liquidation and "provide information that the exclusion has been applied for but not granted," the official said. If a protest period expires after liquidation and an exclusion is granted, "CBP does not have any legal mechanisms to provide refunds of duties after the protest period closes," he said. CBP recommends "that importers pay close attention to the liquidation dates" for entries that are subject to the tariffs but could receive an exclusion, the official said.
Measures of compliance among steel products importers are down since the imposition of sections 301 and 232 tariffs, said the American Institute for International Steel’s Customs Committee in its 2018 year-end report. CBP told the trade association that compliance measured by the letter of the law for imports in Harmonized Tariff Schedule chapters 72 and 73 was down to 96.46 percent in fiscal year 2018, and down to 97.8 percent when measured by major trade discrepancies, CBP told AIIS, the report said. “Issues with Section 232 and Section 301 entries presumably contributed to the reductions,” the report said.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is amending the list of goods from China newly subject to 10 percent Section 301 tariffs to remove frozen salmon and make conforming changes to subheadings covering wood. Effective Sept. 24, USTR is removing from the list subheadings 0304.81.10 and 0304.81.50, which cover frozen salmon, in order “to account fully for the extensive public comments and testimony previously provided” in the Section 301 investigation.
The House and Senate have both passed the conference version of H.R. 2419, the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (Farm Bill), by greater than two-thirds majorities.