Importers have some options to preserve refunds on entries subject to Section 232 or Section 301 tariffs while awaiting a decision on exclusion requests, a CBP official said during a May 9 conference call. An importer can request an extension to the liquidation, the official said. Importers also can file a protest after liquidation and "provide information that the exclusion has been applied for but not granted," the official said. If a protest period expires after liquidation and an exclusion is granted, "CBP does not have any legal mechanisms to provide refunds of duties after the protest period closes," he said. CBP recommends "that importers pay close attention to the liquidation dates" for entries that are subject to the tariffs but could receive an exclusion, the official said.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is publishing its latest list of product exclusions from the first tranche of $34 billion in Section 301 tariffs on China (see 1905090067). This fourth list of exclusions includes full tariff schedule subheadings, as well as 35 subsets of tariff numbers in chapters 84, 85 and 90. The new exclusions take effect retroactively from July 6, 2018, when the $34 billion in tariffs originally entered into force, and will remain for one year following publication of USTR’s notice.

In a tweetstorm, President Donald Trump said trade talks with China are continuing in a "very congenial manner," but that there is "absolutely no need to rush" because with the tariff revenue, the U.S. can pay for infrastructure and health care, and purchase U.S. farm products that were once bought by China. He said those purchases would be shipped to "poor & starving countries in the form of humanitarian assistance. In the meantime we will continue to negotiate with China in the hopes that they do not again try to redo deal!"

With the Section 301 List 3 tariff hike to 25 percent taking effect at 12:01 a.m. Friday on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods (see 1905080023), U.S. importers “should move quickly to assess the impact" of the higher duty rate and "consider whether to prepare an exclusion request,” advised Covington & Burling’s international trade practice Wednesday.

Importers with goods exported to the U.S. prior to May 10 will be able to avoid the increased Section 301 duties on goods from China as long as the merchandise is entered before June 1, CBP said in an updated CSMS message. "Such products remain subject to the additional duty of 10 percent for a transitional period of time before June 1, 2019," said the U.S. Trade Representative in a notice. "The covered products of China that are entered into the United States on or after June 1, 2019, are subject to the 25 percent rate of additional duty.

Headset supplier Poly, which includes Plantronics, will exit the consumer business to stay “laser-focused” on its enterprise opportunity, said CEO Joseph Burton on a Q1 earnings call Tuesday. Poly is in the “very early days of thinking this through,” he said. Whether it sells the business in “a single transaction to a single buyer” or through “multiple transactions” or finds a joint venture partner, “all that's a little bit still in front of us,” he said. Consumer is roughly 8 percent of total revenue, he said. The higher-end Voyager headset product line isn't for sale “at this time,” he said. Though they’re sold through retail, “they're really predominantly business headsets,” so “we really consider it part of enterprise,” he said. Poly is watching this week’s tariffs situation “like a hawk,” and is “uniquely positioned out there versus some of our competitors” to weather the storm if the Section 301 duties rise to 25 percent on Chinese imports, said Burton. Poly builds a “considerable number” of its products “in-house” in a factory it owns in Tijuana, Mexico, he said. It does have some products manufactured in China that would have tariff exposure, but “there's a third group of products where we have an additional set of contract manufacturers,” he said. “Our ability to rapidly move products between those three really gives us a competitive advantage that we think very few people have.” Depending on what happens, “we will lift and shift ahead of our competition,” he said. “We scenario-plan this every day based on the latest thinking,” but it’s “impossible to know” for now how much of a hit tariffs will bring to gross margin, he said.

Some firms have moved contract production out of China, even though the items they import were only subject to a 10 percent tariff, according to Meredith DeMent, a senior associate in the international commercial practice at Baker McKenzie. DeMent said she personally has seen more than 10 companies move at least some production to other countries. But, she said, many were thinking that their goods might return to Most Favored Nation tariff levels soon, because news reports suggested the U.S. and China were headed toward a deal that would at least have "a phased scaling back of the tariffs."

CBP provided some details in a May 9 CSMS message on how importers should file entries that will be subject to the increased Section 301 duties on goods from China. The CSMS message confirms that the increased duties will only apply to goods exported and entered after May 10 (see 1905080035). During a call with software developers the same day, CBP officials explained that several pieces are still being worked out, including the addition of a tariff subheading for goods exported before May 10 and entered after the tariffs take effect.

Those who took as bluster President Donald Trump’s tweeted threat last weekend to hike the List 3 Section 301 tariffs to 25 percent came to the realization Wednesday the rate increase is real and looms less than 48 hours away. A notice set for publication in Thursday’s Federal Register says the rate hike will take effect 12:01 a.m. EDT Friday, turning Trump’s tweet into the force of law.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative issued a fourth list of product exclusions from Section 301 tariffs on goods from China. The exclusions cover "515 separate exclusion requests" including five 10-digit subheadings that cover 86 separate requests and "35 specially prepared product descriptions" that cover 429 separate requests, according to a pre-publication copy of a notice posted to the agency’s website May 9. The product exclusions apply retroactively to July 6, 2018, the date the first set of tariffs took effect, and will remain in effect until one year after USTR publishes the notice in the Federal Register.