The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative's notice officially delaying a planned tariff increase on goods from China is set for publication in the Federal Register on Dec. 19. Publication is a necessary step for CBP to implement the delay in ACE (see 1812140046). The third tranche of Section 301 tariffs will now go up to 25 percent from 10 percent on March 2, 2019, unless further progress is made in talks with China (see 1812010001).

Customs and Border Protection at our Monday deadline was awaiting Federal Register publication of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative notice officially delaying the increase in Trade Act Section 301 tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods for 90 days to March 2. Though the USTR posted the prepublication notice Friday (see 1812140045), CBP confirmed it would wait to make changes in its Automated Commercial Environment portal until the notice is formally published. ACE is CBP's central system through which importers and exporters file shipment reports. The National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America noted in an email to members some confusion "when customs brokers who transmit entries early for shipments arriving after January 1 notice that CBP's system applies a 25% tariff rate for these products." Brokers should be aware that "10% will be the correct duty rate on January 1, but CBP's system will nevertheless show a duty rate of 25% until official notification is published," said the association.

International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Dec. 10-14 in case they were missed.

The three rounds of Section 301 tariffs since July on $250 billion worth of Chinese goods are costing the tech industry more than $1 billion a month in added fees, the Consumer Technology Association reported. CTA teamed with The Trade Partnership to analyze recent U.S. import data and found tariffs on tech products imported from China jumped to $1.3 billion in October, a sevenfold increase from the same month a year earlier. That includes $122 million more in duties on 5G-related imports in October, compared with $65,000.

The three rounds of Trade Act Section 301 tariffs imposed since July on $250 billion worth of Chinese goods are costing the tech industry more than $1 billion a month in added fees, reported CTA Friday. CTA released its estimates as the Trump administration officially delayed to March 2 its plan to raise the third tranche of 10 percent tariffs to 25 percent.

The three rounds of Trade Act Section 301 tariffs imposed since July on $250 billion worth of Chinese goods are costing the tech industry more than $1 billion a month in added fees, reported CTA Friday. CTA released its estimates as the Trump administration officially delayed to March 2 its plan to raise the third tranche of 10 percent tariffs to 25 percent.

Due to "limitations within automatic quota processing when quota and trade remedy conditions overlap," CBP will require manual input by the agency in some cases, CBP said in a Dec. 17 CSMS message. Manual processing is needed when "a quota entry summary line has three or more Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) codes (e.g., if the line is properly classified with two chapter 99 HTS codes (a section 301 HTS and a quota HTS) and the commodity HTS)," it said. Manual processing is also necessary when "the primary HTS code is not subject to quota but the secondary HTS is subject to quota (e.g., if the line is properly classified with two HTS codes: a section 301 HTS and a non-trade remedy quota HTS)."

CBP is awaiting Federal Register publication of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative notice delaying increased Section 301 tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods (see 1809180016). While the USTR posted the coming notice (see 1812140034), CBP confirmed it would wait to make changes in ACE until the notice is formally published in the Federal Register. The National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America noted in an email to members that there's been some confusion "when customs brokers who transmit entries early for shipments arriving after January 1 notice that CBP's system applies a 25% tariff rate for these products." Brokers should be aware that "10% will be the correct duty rate on January 1, but CBP's system will nevertheless show a duty rate of 25% until official notification is published," NCBFAA said.

The three rounds of Trade Act Section 301 tariffs imposed since July on $250 billion worth of Chinese goods are costing the tech industry more than $1 billion a month in added fees, reported CTA Friday. CTA released its estimates as the Trump administration officially delayed to March 2 its plan to raise the third tranche of 10 percent tariffs to 25 percent.

The new photomask factory that Photronics just opened in Hefei, China, is “designed to capitalize” on the industry’s migration to larger and larger TV screen sizes and the move to 8K, said CEO Peter Kirlin on a quarterly earnings call Wednesday. Two Gen 10.5 panel fabs optimized for 65- and 75-inch LCD TVs are “ramping” in China, “with three more fabs under construction,” said Kirlin. The U.S.-China trade war is the big unknown in keeping supply-chain costs down, he said. “Every day, a new piece of significant news seems to appear that more often than not demonstrates that the tension between the two governments remains high and the ultimate outcome of trade discussions is uncertain,” he said. “There have been many surprises so far and there are most certainly more to come. Short-term, these actions can go either way as far as our business is concerned.” The “direct impact to Photronics” of the Section 301 tariffs imposed so far “has been minimal and not material to our results,” he said. “In the long run, I believe this tension will motivate more, not less semiconductor content to be manufactured in China, and without a doubt, more chips and displays equates to more demand for photomasks,” especially for China-based manufacturers, he said.