While the next chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee is clear -- Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass. -- the leadership of the Senate Finance Committee and the Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee is up in the air. Neal, who represents a slice of Western Massachusetts that has suffered from deindustrialization, voted against NAFTA, but for giving China permanent most favored nation status. He also voted no on the most recent fast-track renewal in 2015.

NEW YORK -- Clients are asking "how can I make a bad situation better," said Mary Jo Muoio, senior vice president for trade services for Geodis, a customs broker firm. Muoio, who was speaking on a panel on "Tackling the Trade War: Solutions for Companies Across the Supply Chain" at the Apparel Importers Trade and Transportation Conference, said some of those client questions and plans are not sophisticated. She quoted one client who asked: "If I send it to Taiwan and label it Taiwan, does it get me out of the 301?" She quipped, "Well, it gets you in jail."

As tech companies ponder “mitigation strategies” to reduce the cost impact of tariffs on Chinese imports, be aware Customs and Border Protection's Office of Regulatory Audit has confirmed it’s beefing up enforcement for imported electronics, blogged Baker McKenzie customs compliance lawyer Ted Murphy Tuesday. Expect the agency in two-four weeks to send out the first wave of CF-28 forms -- requests for information -- since the imposition of the Trade Act Section 301 tariffs, said Murphy. “Billions of dollars in revenue are at stake for the U.S. government, and CBP is intent on collecting that revenue.” The agency recognizes importers “are under pressure to reduce the Section 301 impact and, therefore, may (intentionally or unintentionally) act in a manner contrary to U.S. customs laws and regulations,” he said. CBP justifies targeting electronics “given the conclusions of the Section 301 investigation,” which found China “engages in intellectual property theft and forced technology transfers to support its industrial advancement goals,” he said. “Targeting electronics aligns with the legal basis for the Section 301 duties and the administration’s messaging around China’s unfair policies.” Companies pursuing Section 301 mitigation strategies “should tread cautiously,” because such strategies are “likely to draw scrutiny from CBP,” said Murphy: Anyone receiving a CF-28 “should escalate the matter to the company’s legal department.”

NEW YORK -- The assistant U.S. trade representative for textiles acknowledged there are changes to NAFTA "you may not like," before he pitched changes to the pact that could be beneficial for the garment industry. Bill Jackson, who noted that textiles is the only sector to have a dedicated office at USTR, was speaking Nov. 7 at the Apparel Importers Trade and Transportation Conference. United States Fashion Industry Association President Julia Hughes, who was interviewing Jackson, agreed that the rewrite is "a mixed bag" for her industry.

As tech companies ponder “mitigation strategies” to reduce the cost impact of tariffs on Chinese imports, be aware Customs and Border Protection's Office of Regulatory Audit has confirmed it’s beefing up enforcement for imported electronics, blogged Baker McKenzie customs compliance lawyer Ted Murphy Tuesday. Expect the agency in two-four weeks to send out the first wave of CF-28 forms -- requests for information -- since the imposition of the Trade Act Section 301 tariffs, said Murphy. “Billions of dollars in revenue are at stake for the U.S. government, and CBP is intent on collecting that revenue.” The agency recognizes importers “are under pressure to reduce the Section 301 impact and, therefore, may (intentionally or unintentionally) act in a manner contrary to U.S. customs laws and regulations,” he said. CBP justifies targeting electronics “given the conclusions of the Section 301 investigation,” which found China “engages in intellectual property theft and forced technology transfers to support its industrial advancement goals,” he said. “Targeting electronics aligns with the legal basis for the Section 301 duties and the administration’s messaging around China’s unfair policies.” Companies pursuing Section 301 mitigation strategies “should tread cautiously,” because such strategies are “likely to draw scrutiny from CBP,” said Murphy: Anyone receiving a CF-28 “should escalate the matter to the company’s legal department.”

NEW YORK -- The Section 301 tariffs largely have spared apparel, but U.S.-China Business Council Vice President Erin Ennis told industry representatives that tariffs on all remaining Chinese goods could follow. "You should hope for the best, but, as businesses, you should be planning for the worst on that front," she said. "We're not at the end of this yet." Ennis was speaking at the Apparel Importers Trade and Transportation Conference Nov. 7.

A first group of CBP information requests related to imports covered by the Section 301 tariffs on goods from China is expected to go out in the next couple weeks, Baker & McKenzie lawyer Ted Murphy said in a Nov. 6 blog post. CBP has said it plans to initially focus on imported electronics and will be adding new auditors to its field offices (see 1810230022). "Our contacts in Regulatory Audit have informed us that, as part of this effort, a first 'wave' of CF-28s (Requests for Information) since the imposition of the Section 301 duties will be issued in 2-4 weeks," Murphy said.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has made its way through 7,818 requests for exclusions from the first tranche of Section 301 tariffs, and has asked CBP to determine if it is practical to admit the products at the border that are covered by 238 requests. Many of the requests that are in this provisional status cover the same HTS codes. The agency is tracking where requests are in the process through spreadsheets on its website, and marks those that are worthy of an exclusion as "stage 3." But those exclusions are provisional until the customs authority says they're administrable.

The Trade Act Section 301 tariffs that took effect Sept. 24 on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports (see 1809240011) “have not substantially hurt our business,” said Mike Long, CEO of global components distributor Arrow Electronics, on a Thursday earnings call. Most of Arrow’s hundreds of components supplier customers are reacting to the tariffs “as they should,” said Long. “Anything that is artificially created,” such as tariffs, “we’re against,” he said. “We believe that tariffs are a bad thing in general, but if one government anywhere in the world decides they’re going to increase tariffs, don’t be surprised if worldwide manufacturers” move their production to other countries of origin, as many already have, said Long. The “bottom line” is that manufacturers “need to make their money,” and “they’re all smart enough to manufacture anywhere in the world,” and most are doing so “in more than one place,” he said. Long estimates about a third of Arrow’s customers shifted at least some production away from China since the tariffs took effect, he said. Arrow is helping customers “mitigate” the “burden” of tariffs on their businesses, said Long. “We’re assisting customers who are moving manufacturing locations and rerouting supply chains.” Arrow boasts the world’s largest “proprietary real-time database” of electronics components, he said. Tariffs were “not the reason we developed the database,” but the “value it’s providing confirms our belief in the power of data,” he said.

China and trade war watchers were aflutter after President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping had a phone call Nov. 1 and both sides sounded upbeat. Trump tweeted that it was "a long and very good conversation," mostly about trade, and that "those discussions are moving along nicely." In China, the readout from Xinhua emphasized how seriously the U.S. it taking its preparation for the in-person meeting later this month in Argentina, and said that Trump said, "it is very important for the heads of state of the United States and China to keep frequent, direct communication.... Trump also said he attaches importance to a good relationship with Xi and is willing to extend, through Xi, his good wishes to the Chinese people."