The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced new amendments to exclusions from Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports. In one notice, an exclusion is apparently being removed under U.S. Note 20(x)(97) on multiphase motors, in statistical reporting number 8501.52.4000. A second notice modifies exclusions from the third set of Section 301 tariffs, as follows:

International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories from July 6-10 in case they were missed.

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.

On the last day the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative had to announce a Section 301 penalty on France, it said it would hike tariffs by 25% on cosmetics, soap and handbags -- but not yet. In the early evening July 10, the USTR said it chose to raise tariffs on 21 tariff lines, not the 63 it initially identified, and that a 25% levy would be added to regular tariffs on the goods. If importers brought in the same volume in 2021 that they did in 2019, that would raise about $325 million annually.

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.

United Kingdom Secretary of State for International Trade Elizabeth Truss said negotiations with the U.S. on a free trade agreement so far have been “positive and constructive,” and she sees a way forward for the deal. “I think it is possible to protect our red lines, protect our regulatory independence, whilst opening markets,” she said.

SVS Sound CEO Gary Yacoubian credits CTA for its "very thoughtful approach” to the safety in scheduling CES 2021 as a physical show amid the global COVID-19 pandemic, he told us. Yacoubian, a former CTA chairman, is back on its executive board, “so take this with a grain of salt,” he said.

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 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.

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.