CBP created Harmonized System Update (HSU) 1902 on Feb. 26, containing 40 Automated Broker Interface records and 11 harmonized tariff records, it said in a CSMS message. The update includes changes related to the delayed increase to Section 301 tariffs on goods from China. "Changes were made to extend the 10 percent duty rate" on Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading 9903.88.03, the agency said. "This will allow for pre filing of entries at the 10 percent duty rate. Further updates are possible after the forthcoming Federal Register notice is published."
Delaying the increase to 25 percent on the 10 percent Section 301 tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese imports will require a “presidential proclamation” or publication of a Federal Register notice before the midnight Friday deadline to avert an automatic rate hike, emailed customs law expert Ted Murphy of Baker McKenzie Monday. President Donald Trump, for the second time since December, postponed the rate hike in a pair of tweets Sunday, citing “substantial progress” in U.S.-China trade talks (see 1902250001).
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, who is leading the China trade talks, downplayed the possibility that President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will sign a trade agreement a month from now. Lighthizer, who testified before the House Ways and Means Committee Feb. 27, was asked by Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., if he sees a package coming in the next few weeks. "I’m not foolish enough to think there’s going to be one negotiation that’s going to change all the practices in China," Lighthizer replied. "At the end of this negotiation, if we’re successful, there'll be a signing." But that's the beginning of a long process to monitor China's compliance with what it promises to do.
A domestic steel manufacturer filed petitions on Feb. 20 with the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission requesting new antidumping duty investigations on carbon and alloy steel wire rod from China, India, Taiwan and Thailand, and new countervailing duties on the same product from China and India. Commerce will now decide whether to begin AD/CVD investigations on carbon and alloy steel threaded rod that could eventually result in the assessment of AD/CV duties. The petition was filed by Vulcan Steel Products.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Feb. 19-22 in case they were missed.
Tech reaction was cautiously positive to President Donald Trump delaying, for a second time (see 1812030002), hiking the third round of 10 percent Section 301 tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese imports to 25 percent, as was scheduled to take effect this weekend. Trump said two weeks ago he was open to letting the March 1 increase deadline "slide" if the U.S. and China were "close to a deal" on comprehensive trade overhaul (see 1902130040).
Tech reaction was cautiously positive to President Donald Trump delaying, for a second time (see 1812030002), hiking the third round of 10 percent Section 301 tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese imports to 25 percent, as was scheduled to take effect this weekend. Trump said two weeks ago he was open to letting the March 1 increase deadline "slide" if the U.S. and China were "close to a deal" on comprehensive trade overhaul (see 1902130040).
President Donald Trump will again postpone an increase to Section 301 tariffs on China that had been set to take effect March 1, he said Feb. 24 in a pair of tweets. The delay comes as a result of “substantial progress in our trade talks with China on important structural issues including intellectual property protection, technology transfer, agriculture, services, currency, and many other issues,” he said.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer will be the only witness giving oral testimony at a hearing Feb. 27 before the House Ways and Means Committee on U.S.-China trade tensions, the committee announced Wednesday. Written comments can be submitted for the hearing record by March 13, the committee said. Ways and Means is one of three committees Lighthizer must report to by mid-March on his progress in creating an exclusion process for the third tranche of Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports under the newly enacted spending bill that averted a renewed government shutdown (see 1902170001). The hearing is at 10 a.m. in 1100 Longworth.
The signals that tariffs will not go up on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports on March 2 is a small relief for businesses, according to Venable partner Lindsay Meyer, but they're still challenged by the difficulty "of forecasting what the second half of this year will present." Some importers that work with Venable are getting their suppliers to shoulder some of the additional tariff costs; others are declining to enter two-year contracts unless there's the ability to reopen the deals if tariffs increase. "The companies, they’re making their plans cautiously," she said. "I think the anxiety level isn’t at a level 10 that it was, but it certainly hasn’t dropped down below 5."