CBP added on July 16 the ability in ACE for importers to file entries with recently excluded goods in the third tranche of Section 301 tariffs, a CSMS message said. The official Office of the U.S. Trade Representative notice for the new exclusion for motorboats was published June 24 (see 2006190034). The exclusions are in subheading 9903.88.48. They are available for any product that meets the description in the Annex to USTR’s notice, regardless of whether the importer filed an exclusion request. The product exclusions apply retroactively to Sept. 24, 2018, the date the tariffs on the fourth list took effect, and remain in effect until Aug. 7. The CSMS message also includes information about recently granted extensions for 12 exclusions from the first list of Section 301 tariffs on China that were due to expire July 9 (see 2007080025).
Section 301 Tariffs
Section 301 Tariffs are levied under the Trade Act of 1974 which grants the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) authority to investigate and take action to protect U.S. rights from trade agreements and respond to foreign trade practices. Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 provides statutory means allowing the United States to impose sanctions on foreign countries violating U.S. trade agreements or engaging in acts that are “unjustifiable” or “unreasonable” and burdensome to U.S. commerce. Prior to 1995, the U.S. frequently used Section 301 to eliminate trade barriers and pressure other countries to open markets to U.S. goods.
The founding of the World Trade Organization in 1995 created an enforceable dispute settlement mechanism, reducing U.S. use of Section 301. The Trump Administration began using Section 301 in 2018 to unilaterally enforce tariffs on countries and industries it deemed unfair to U.S. industries. The Trump Administration adopted the policy shift to close what it deemed a persistent "trade gap" between the U.S. and foreign governments that it said disadvantaged U.S. firms. Additionally, it pointed to alleged weaknesses in the WTO trade dispute settlement process to justify many of its tariff actions—particularly against China. The administration also cited failures in previous trade agreements to enhance foreign market access for U.S. firms and workers.
The Trump Administration launched a Section 301 investigation into Chinese trade policies in August 2017. Following the investigation, President Trump ordered the USTR to take five tariff actions between 2018 and 2019. Almost three quarters of U.S. imports from China were subject to Section 301 tariffs, which ranged from 15% to 25%. The U.S. and China engaged in negotiations resulting in the “U.S.-China Phase One Trade Agreement”, signed in January 2020.
The Biden Administration took steps in 2021 to eliminate foreign policies subject to Section 301 investigations. The administration has extended and reinstated many of the tariffs enacted during the Trump administration but is conducting a review of all Section 301 actions against China.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative received close to 400 comments on the possibility of punishing Austria, Brazil, the Czech Republic, India, Indonesia, Italy, Spain, Turkey and the United Kingdom if they start collecting digital service taxes, as the countries have proposed. The USTR is also considering punishing the European Union, which is considering a unionwide DST.
CBP “is evaluating” the “operational approach to implementing the President’s direction” in light of the executive order ending Hong Kong's special trade status (see 2007150054), a CBP spokesperson emailed July 16. “The EO instructs agencies to commence appropriate actions within 15 days,” the spokesperson said. “We’ll be able to share more information soon.”
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is requesting comments on whether recently granted (see 2007090035) and coming tariff exclusions on Chinese imports on Section 301 List 4 should be extended beyond Sept. 1, it said in a notice. While USTR recently issued a request for comment on the previous five sets of exclusions expiring Sept. 1 (see 2006250001), it is also considering extensions for “exclusions granted under the sixth notice and a forthcoming seventh notice of product exclusions.” The agency will start accepting comments on the extensions on July 15. The comments are due by Aug. 14, it said. The evaluation's focus will be on whether, despite the first imposition of these additional duties, the particular product remains available only from China. The companies are required to post a public rationale.
Four U.S. manufacturers seek the imposition of new antidumping and countervailing duties on metal lockers from China, they said in a petition filed with the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission July 8. Commerce will now decide whether to begin AD/CVD investigations, which could result in the imposition of permanent AD/CV duty orders and the assessment of AD and CV duties on importers.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, when asked about how the retaliatory tariffs over Airbus subsidies are affecting the U.K. trade talks, said it's possible, but tricky.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative issued another set of product exclusions from the fourth group of Section 301 tariffs on goods from China. The new exclusions from the tariffs include "61 specially prepared product descriptions, which together respond to 86 separate exclusion requests," according to the notice. The product exclusions apply retroactively to Sept. 1, 2019, the date the fourth set of tariffs took effect. The exclusions will remain in effect until Sept. 1, 2020.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced a new round of product exclusions for products on the fourth list of Section 301 tariffs on products from China, as well as a series of modifications to current exclusions, including several for face masks, to reflect recent changes to the tariff schedule that took effect July 1.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will grant extensions to 12 exclusions from the first list of Section 301 tariffs on China that were due to expire July 9, it said in a notice. The 98 exclusions that weren't extended, all listed in U.S. Note 20(n) to subchapter III of chapter 99 and filed under subheading 9903.88.11, will expire July 9. The 12 extended exclusions will now expire Dec. 31, USTR said.
SVS Sound CEO Gary Yacoubian says his company was able to navigate COVID-19 supply-chain disruptions in China because “we built a lot of product in Q4 last year that was intended to be built in Q1 of this year.” SVS negotiated that with its Chinese factories, partly to mitigate the Section 301 List 4A tariffs, he said.