The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative should defend U.S. interests against intellectual property threats in the EU, China and various countries, tech groups commented through Thursday night. USTR collected comments for its Special 301 report on international IP practices. Copyright safe harbors included in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and exceptions like fair use are critical, the Internet Association said, citing IP threats from the EU, China and others. Efforts to chip away at the safe harbor framework “threaten the ability of internet companies to expand globally by eliminating” copyright certainty, IA said. BSA|The Software Alliance cited “digital protectionism and isolationism.” Restrictions on “cross-border data transfers; coercive technology transfer; and discrimination against foreign companies, products, and technologies” are counter to U.S. interests, BSA said. The Computer & Communications Industry Association asked USTR to recognize that Europe is attempting to weaken liability protections and enact “copyright policies that will likely have significant negative consequences for the digital economy” like “snippet taxes.” Counterfeiting and piracy in China “remain at epidemic levels,” the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said. Ongoing trade negotiations offer opportunity for the U.S. and China to address IP protection and technology transfer issues, the chamber said. Theft and infringement in China continue to put the software industry at risk, ACT|The App Association said, recommending China remain on the priority watch list. Algeria, Argentina, India, Indonesia, Kuwait, Russia and Ukraine also should remain on the list, ACT said. Public Citizen raised concerns about Malaysia, which hasn't been on the watch list since 2012.

CBP on Feb. 10 added the ability in ACE for importers to file entries with exclusions from Section 301 duties, it said in a CSMS message issued two days earlier. Filers of imported products that were granted an exclusion should report the regular chapter 1-97 Harmonized Tariff Schedule number, as well as subheading 9905.88.05 for products subject to Section 301 duties on products from China but that have been granted an exemption by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. “Do not submit the corresponding Chapter 99 HTS number for the Section 301 duties when HTS 9903.88.05 is submitted,” CBP said.

Drawback filers may “effective immediately” submit claims for refunds on Section 301 or Section 201 duties, CBP said in a Feb. 8 CSMS message. Filers will no longer receive error messages related to unit of measure (UOM) mismatches that had been occurring “because the underlying import did not have a UOM associated to a Chapter 99” tariff number or because they had left the mandatory UOM field blank, CBP said.

The National Retail Federation is optimistic about a de-escalation of the U.S.-China trade war but won’t close the door on joining a legal challenge if the Trump administration hikes the 10 percent Section 301 tariffs to 25 percent after March 1, CEO Matthew Shay told us Tuesday. “I’m not sure we’re ready to go there yet,” said Shay of a court challenge.

With less than a month before the 10 percent Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports are scheduled to rise to 25 percent (see 1812140045), resolving the U.S.-China trade dispute “is a tall order, under the best of circumstances,” blogged Baker McKenzie customs lawyer Ted Murphy Monday. “By most accounts, the two sides are still far apart” in their quest to negotiate a comprehensive trade deal by the March 2 deadline, he said. Murphy doubts “a substantive solution will be reached in the next 30 days." The "question is whether China’s offer to purchase more U.S. products” and impose “some small structural changes” in its trade practices will be sufficient to get the Trump administration to “declare victory” and again postpone the tariff hike while the two sides keep talking, he said.

With less than a month before the 10 percent Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports are scheduled to rise to 25 percent (see 1812140045), resolving the U.S.-China trade dispute “is a tall order, under the best of circumstances,” blogged Baker McKenzie customs lawyer Ted Murphy Monday. “By most accounts, the two sides are still far apart” in their quest to negotiate a comprehensive trade deal by the March 2 deadline, he said. Murphy doubts “a substantive solution will be reached in the next 30 days." The "question is whether China’s offer to purchase more U.S. products” and impose “some small structural changes” in its trade practices will be sufficient to get the Trump administration to “declare victory” and again postpone the tariff hike while the two sides keep talking, he said.

The National Retail Federation is optimistic about a de-escalation of the U.S.-China trade war but won’t close the door on joining a legal challenge if the Trump administration hikes the 10 percent Section 301 tariffs to 25 percent after March 1, CEO Matthew Shay told us Feb. 6. “I’m not sure we’re ready to go there yet,” Shay said of a court challenge.

Tariffs on allies make it harder to convince China to change its abuses, senators said, as members from both parties held a press conference to criticize Trump administration tariff policies. They were kicking off a lobbying effort from business owners and farmers around the country called Tariffs Hurt the Heartland, which began Feb. 6.

With less than a month before the 10 percent Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports are scheduled to rise to 25 percent (see 1812140034), resolving the U.S.-China trade dispute “is a tall order, under the best of circumstances,” Baker McKenzie customs lawyer Ted Murphy blogged Monday. “By most accounts, the two sides are still far apart” in their quest to negotiate a comprehensive trade deal by the March 2 deadline, he said. Murphy doubts “a substantive solution will be reached in the next 30 days.” The “question is whether China’s offer to purchase more U.S. products” and impose “some small structural changes” in its trade practices will be sufficient to get the Trump administration to “declare victory” and again postpone the tariff hike while the two sides keep talking, he said.

International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Jan. 28 - Feb. 1 in case they were missed.