Customs Changes in Beef TRQ, AGOA and Japanese Manufactured Goods Coming Jan. 1

Japanese beef exporters will be able to send more beef to the U.S. at a lower tariff rate in 2020, as Japan's tariff-rate quota will be part of the total TRQ allocation, according to a White House proclamation released Dec. 27. However, Japan is a trivial source of imported beef in America; the top six exporters -- Canada, Australia, Mexico, New Zealand, Nicaragua and Brazil -- account for 95 percent of imports.

According to Drovers, a publication for cattle ranchers, the United States levies an import duty of 4.4 cents per kilogram on the first 200 metric tons of Japanese beef each year, and imports past that are subject to a 26.4 percent tax. Japan exported 421 tons of beef in 2018, Drovers said, at $31 million in value.

As previously reported, (see 1909260014), going from 4.4 percent tariffs to zero on lathes and machine tools will be a bigger deal, as the U.S. imported $436 million in Japanese computer numeric controlled lathes and $283 million in Japanese metal-stamping machines. Both reductions start in 2020, but go to zero in 2021.

The proclamation also makes changes to the African Growth and Opportunity Act. As previously reported, (see 1910310058), Cameroon is out of AGOA starting Jan. 1, 2020, due to human rights issues. The proclamation also terminates the eligibility of Niger, the Central African Republic and the Gambia for Section 112 AGOA textile benefits, due to a finding that the three countries “have not established effective visa systems and related customs procedures” to prevent transshipment. Niger, the Central African Republic and the Gambia are removed from the list of countries eligible for AGOA textile benefits under note 1 to subchapter XIX of Chapter 98.

At the same time, the proclamation adds Guinea-Bissau and Niger to the list of lesser developed AGOA beneficiaries eligible for further Section 112(c) textile benefits under note 2(d) to subchapter XIX of Chapter 98. That note specifies that goods must be listed in both notes 1 and 2(d) to receive the lesser developed country benefits, so neither Niger nor Guinea-Bissau are immediately eligible. Currently, only Ethiopia, Mauritius, Lesotho, Kenya and Madagascar are significant AGOA suppliers of apparel.