As importers await CBP guidance on imports from Hong Kong, some think there still may be more to come from a recent executive order suspending Hong Kong’s special status under certain trade laws. While the order only mentioned country of origin marking on the import side, “I also suspect that the details will continue to emerge and that other restrictions may be applied,” Lawrence Friedman of Barnes Richardson said by email.

Correction: The Court of International Trade's denied protest jurisdiction isn’t relevant in Trebbianno's lawsuit seeking refunds of Section 301 tariffs because the exclusions were not a CBP decision (see 2007270051), said Chris Kane of Simon Gluck, who represents Trebbianno, in a post on LinkedIn.

The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of July 20-26:

International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories from July 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.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will grant extensions to 14 exclusions from the second list of Section 301 tariffs on goods from China that were due to expire July 31, it said in a notice. The 55 exclusions that weren't extended, all listed in U.S. Note 20(o) to subchapter III of chapter 99 and filed under subheading 9903.88.12, will expire July 31. The 14 extended exclusions will now expire Dec. 31, USTR said.

It’s difficult to judge the likelihood of success of House legislation that would direct the Office of the Trade Representative to extend Trade Act Section 301 tariffs exclusions automatically for at least a year (see 2007170050), Nicole Bivens Collinson, the Sandler Travis president-international trade and government relations, told a Sports & Fitness Industry Association webinar Thursday. Collinson isn’t sure if the bill “has legs or not,” she said. “That it is bipartisan is helpful.” She thinks the legislation could clear the House, “but I don’t know that the Senate would be willing to bring it up,” because Senate Republicans would view it as “usurping” President Donald Trump’s tariff “authority,” she said. It’s also highly unlikely Trump would sign it into law, she said.

An importer has filed suit at the Court of International Trade seeking refunds on Section 301 tariffs based on exclusions issued after the relevant entries liquidated. Trebbianno, which does business as Showroom 35, seeks refunds of $270,040.90 in duties it paid on its imports of handbags, wallets and purses that were subsequently included under retroactive exclusions issued by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

A “key thing” about the Trade Act Section 301 tariff exclusions on Chinese goods that have been granted or extended is that most end Dec. 31, Nicole Bivens Collinson, Sandler Travis president-international trade and government relations, told a Sports & Fitness Industry Association webinar Thursday. If President Donald Trump is reelected, she believes his administration “will view that as a mandate” for eradicating tariff exclusions permanently. As an importer, “I would be looking at January as having tariffs in place without any exclusions,” she said. If U.S.-China relations further deteriorate, Collinson fears the 7.5% List 4A tariffs will increase to 25%, she said. “We also have a List 4B that has no tariffs on them right now. That could change as well." The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative didn’t comment.

The top Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee supports extending Trade Act Section 301 tariff exclusions on Chinese imports automatically instead of through burdensome notice and comment proceedings, he told reporters Wednesday. The Trump administration should alleviate “the energy and effort that businesses have to undertake to extend these exclusions right now when they frankly have bigger fish to fry,” said Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas. He said he expressed his views to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. Brady supports bipartisan legislation sponsored by fellow Ways and Means member Rep. Jackie Walorski, R-Ind., and House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson, D-Minn., that would direct USTR to extend expiring exclusions for at least a year, but would give the agency some discretion when it disagrees (see 2007170050). U.S. businesses should be “focused on surviving” the COVID-19 pandemic and keeping people employed instead of scrambling to find non-Chinese sourcing or arguing for an exclusion extension, Brady said. USTR and Commerce didn’t comment Thursday.

A “key thing” about the Trade Act Section 301 tariff exclusions on Chinese goods that have been granted or extended is that most are set to expire Dec. 31, Nicole Bivens Collinson, president-international trade and government relations with Sandler Travis, said during a Sports & Fitness Industry Association webinar July 23. If President Donald Trump is reelected, she believes, his administration “will view that as a mandate” for eradicating tariff exclusions permanently, she said.