CBP affirmed its position on the use of substantial transformation as the standard for determining country of origin for goods subject to Section 301 tariffs and NAFTA rules, it said in ruling HQ H305370. CBP said another recent ruling mistakenly said that computer server cabinets assembled in Mexico were not subject to the Section 301 tariffs when in fact they are.
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 issued a new set of product exclusions from the 25 percent Section 301 tariffs on goods from China. The exclusions include products from the third list of Section 301 goods. The new exclusions include " 83 specially prepared product descriptions, which cover 95 separate exclusion requests", according to the notice.
CBP has assessed about $43 billion in duties under the major trade remedies started during the Trump administration as of Oct. 2, according to CBP's trade statistics page. That includes $34 billion in duties from the Section 301 tariffs on goods from China, up around $3 billion from about a month ago. The assessed tariffs under Section 301 now include the 15 percent tariffs that took effect on Sept. 1 (see 1908270066). CBP also has assessed about $6.3 billion under the Section 232 tariffs on steel and $1.8 billion under tariffs on aluminum. The Section 201 trade remedies on washing machines, washing machine parts and solar cells (see 1801230052), imposed Jan. 23, 2018, account for $1.1 billion in assessed tariffs.
A domestic manufacturer and labor union filed petitions on Oct. 22 with the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission requesting new antidumping duty investigations on forged steel fittings from India and South Korea, and new countervailing duties on the same product from India. Commerce will now decide whether to begin AD/CVD investigations on forged steel fittings that could eventually result in the assessment of AD/CV duties. The petition was filed by Bonney Forge Corporation and the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union (USW).
IRobot’s U.S. sales declined 7 percent in Q3 because growth “remained subdued as the direct and indirect impacts” of the 25 percent List 3 Section 301 tariffs “weighed heavily on consumers, retailers and suppliers,” CEO Colin Angle said on an Oct. 23 call. IRobot price hikes in late July resulted in “suboptimal sellthrough” in August and September, prompting the vendor to roll back pricing to “pre-tariff levels” earlier in October, he said.
China is going to ask the World Trade Organization to authorize retaliatory tariffs on $2.4 billion worth of goods at the WTO's dispute settlement body meeting Oct. 28. If the U.S. disagrees with either the argument that it's not complying with the ruling on countervailing duties, or the amount of retaliation permitted, an arbitrator will decide how much China may retaliate.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced procedures for requesting product exclusions to some of the fourth list of Section 301 tariffs on products from China. A subset of those tariffs took effect on Sept. 1 (see 1908270066), while the rest of the tariffs are scheduled to begin on Dec. 15. This process only applies to tariffs that began on Sept. 1, it said.
CBP issued filing instructions for goods subject to the tariffs on goods from Europe set to begin on Oct. 18 (see 1910020044). The Oct. 17 CSMS message includes instructions for "submitting an entry summary in which a heading or subheading in Chapter 98 and/or 99 is claimed on imported merchandise" and the sequence order for reporting the tariff numbers. The additional duties of either 10 percent or 25 percent "are effective on or after 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on October 18, 2019," it said.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Oct. 7-11 in case they were missed.
The Congressional Research Service, in a recent report, quantified the U.S.-China trade war and estimated its effects so far on bilateral trade. It said that as of Sept. 1, about 67 percent of U.S. imports from China have additional tariffs, most 15 to 25 percentage points higher, and about 60 percent of U.S. exports to China are taxed at an additional 5 percent to 25 percent.