CBP will provide updates on trade statistics on a new page. The page includes information on total imports and revenue collections, as well as information on duty assessments from the recent Sections 201, 232 and 301 trade remedies. The statistics also show an uptick from fiscal year 2017 to fiscal year 2018 in completed audits, collections that were a result of importer audits, and trade penalties issued. There was a decrease in liquidated damages and total trade seizures in that time frame.

Many U.S. importers "tend to just assume things are on the up and up" with their vendors, said Pete Mento, vice president for global trade and managed services at Crane Worldwide Logistics. Mento, who conducted a webinar on free trade deals May 24, said that's a mistake. Mento said often "people are claiming free trade agreements simply because it was flown to the U.S." from a free-trade partner country. "You gotta be able to prove your stuff qualifies. Because if you can’t prove it, the government’s going to come down on you like the hammer of the gods," he said.

It's “premature” for Best Buy to speculate about the possible impact of the List 4 Section 301 tariffs on $300 billion in Chinese goods (see 1905140025) because there are too many uncertainties about the threatened duties, said CEO Hubert Joly on a fiscal Q1 earnings call Thursday.

The Trump administration remains “on track to hit the industry” with 25 percent Section 301 tariffs on $300 billion in Chinese goods not previously dutied because trade talks with China “have deteriorated” in the past two weeks, emailed the Sports & Fitness Industry Association to members Wednesday. “Both sides have retreated to their corners and dug in, with no clear pathway for resolution in the immediate future,” it said. The next possible breakthrough in the talks could come at the G20 summit June 28-29 in Osaka, Japan, where Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, are scheduled to meet, said SFIA. The summit is “two weeks after the List 4 tariffs go into effect,” the association said inaccurately. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative hasn’t set a List 4 effective date, and the timing of the comments and hearings makes it unlikely the administration would be in a position to impose the duties until after Trump returns from Japan. An SFIA spokesperson later clarified that what the group meant to say was that the G20 comes two weeks after the June 10 deadline for submitting requests to appear at the June 17 hearing on the List 4 tariffs. SFIA is organizing a petition drive for members to urge the removal of apparel, footwear, smartwatches and fitness trackers from List 4.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who faced many critical questions from House Democrats on the China trade war, told them that consumer goods were left until last for a reason, and that a decision on levying tariffs on the remaining imports from China -- including toys, apparel, cellphones and computers -- has not yet been made. “There won’t be any decision probably for another 30 to 45 days," Mnuchin testified at the Financial Services Committee May 22. He said that he had recently spoken to the chief financial officer at Walmart about the increase in tariffs on the third tranche of Section 301 tariffs and the possibility of tariffs on nearly all remaining imports.

Hiking the third tranche of U.S. tariffs on Chinese products rejuvenated talk inside CTA for challenging the duties in court, said informed people. Days before the increase, the policy talk there was about strategies to lobby Congress for removing the tariffs once a U.S.-China trade deal was in the bag, they said. The List 4 proposal brought new urgency to the litigation chatter, we’re told. At least one holdout on the eight-member executive board opposes taking the administration to court until President Donald Trump has a chance to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit June 28-29 in Osaka, Japan, said a CTA member insider. The group hired Akin Gump last fall to draft a complaint challenging the Office of U.S. Trade Representative’s broad authority under the 1974 Trade Act to impose retaliatory tariffs against China without launching a new Section 301 investigation (see 1905170064). CTA tried shopping the complaint around to other trade associations for financial and legal backing, but got no takers, we’re told. The association didn’t comment Tuesday. The U.S.-China trade war caused a fivefold increase in tariffs on tech product imports from 2017 to 2018, said CompTIA Tuesday. “Should a 25-percent tariff rate apply to all tech product imports the costs could run into the tens of billions of dollars.” CompTIA encourages the U.S. and China to “reach a deal that protects American innovation and intellectual property.”

The Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports “has been a fluid situation for quite some time now,” and Target is “monitoring this very carefully,” CEO Brian Cornell said on a fiscal Q1 earnings call May 22. “As we think about tariffs, we reflect on the impact it could have and will have on American families that are going to be paying higher prices,” he said. Target’s supply-chain “teams have done a very good job of trying to mitigate the impact in the short term,” he said. That Target has a “multi-category portfolio” gives it a “huge advantage in this environment,” he said. “Our ability to flex our focus from category to category is something that’s somewhat unique to Target versus single-category retailers.” Target also has “some very sophisticated vendor partners that for years now have been working to diversify their manufacturing base,” he said.

The Trump administration remains “on track to hit the industry” with 25 percent Section 301 tariffs on $300 billion in Chinese goods not previously dutied because trade talks with China “have deteriorated” in the past two weeks, emailed the Sports & Fitness Industry Association to members May 22. “Both sides have retreated to their corners and dug in, with no clear pathway for resolution in the immediate future,” it said. The next possible breakthrough in the talks could come at the G-20 summit June 28-29 in Osaka, Japan, where presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping are scheduled to meet, SFIA said. SFIA is organizing a petition drive for members to urge the removal of apparel, footwear, smartwatches and fitness trackers from List 4.

Hiking the third tranche of U.S. tariffs on Chinese products rejuvenated talk inside CTA for challenging the duties in court, said informed people. Days before the increase, the policy talk there was about strategies to lobby Congress for removing the tariffs once a U.S.-China trade deal was in the bag, they said. The List 4 proposal brought new urgency to the litigation chatter, we’re told. At least one holdout on the eight-member executive board opposes taking the administration to court until President Donald Trump has a chance to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit June 28-29 in Osaka, Japan, said a CTA member insider. The group hired Akin Gump last fall to draft a complaint challenging the Office of U.S. Trade Representative’s broad authority under the 1974 Trade Act to impose retaliatory tariffs against China without launching a new Section 301 investigation (see 1905170064). CTA tried shopping the complaint around to other trade associations for financial and legal backing, but got no takers, we’re told. The association didn’t comment Tuesday. The U.S.-China trade war caused a fivefold increase in tariffs on tech product imports from 2017 to 2018, said CompTIA Tuesday. “Should a 25-percent tariff rate apply to all tech product imports the costs could run into the tens of billions of dollars.” CompTIA encourages the U.S. and China to “reach a deal that protects American innovation and intellectual property.”

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative launches the long-awaited product exclusion process for the third tranche of tariffed Section 301 goods "on or around June 30," the agency said in Tuesday's Federal Register. USTR requested OMB expedited approval for an information collection for the exclusion process that was announced as part of the May 10 tariff increase for List 3 goods from China (see 1905090018). "USTR is establishing a process by which U.S. stakeholders can request the exclusion of particular products classified within a covered tariff subheading" on List 3 that took effect in September, the agency said. USTR "anticipates that the window for submitting exclusion requests will open on or around June 30." Requests for exclusion will have to identify a particular product and provide supporting data and the rationale for the requested exclusion. Within 14 days after USTR posts a request for exclusion, interested persons can provide a response with the reasons they support or oppose the request. They can reply to the response within 7 days after it is posted.