Consumer Technology Association members have identified 139 “line items for technology sector products” they want removed from List 4 of the proposed Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports, the association said in comments dated June 10 in docket USTR-2019-0004. “The annual import value from China of those items alone totals over $167 billion, over half of the entire value of the products on List 4,” CTA said.
Section 301 (too broad)
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for June 3-7 in case they were missed.
The International Trade Commission issued Revision 7 to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule. The revised tariff schedule now reflects the removal of India from the Generalized System of Preferences program (see 1905310072), with the country removed from lists of GSP beneficiaries in General Note 4, and a bevy of subheadings for India removed from the list of country-product pairs ineligible for GSP because they exceeded Competitive Need Limitations. The new version also ends an exemption for India from Section 201 safeguards on solar cells and washing machines, because India is no longer considered a developing country that qualifies for the exemption. These changes took effect June 5.
CBP will add the ability in ACE for importers to file entries with the fifth group of exclusions from the first tranche of Section 301 tariffs on June 11, it said in a CSMS message. Filers of imported products that were granted an exclusion (see 1906030038) should report the regular Chapter 84, 85 or 90 Harmonized Tariff Schedule number, as well as subheading 9903.88.10, for products subject to Section 301 duties on products from China but that have been granted an exclusion by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. “Importers shall not submit the corresponding Chapter 99 HTS number for the Section 301 duties when HTS 9903.88.10 is submitted,” CBP said.
A domestic steel manufacturer filed petitions on June 6 with the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission requesting new antidumping duty investigations on collated steel staples from South Korea, China and Taiwan, and new countervailing duties on the same product from China. Commerce will now decide whether to begin AD/CVD investigations on collated steel staples that could eventually result in the assessment of AD/CV duties. The petition was filed by Kyocera Senco Industrial Tools, Inc.
The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated June 6. The most recent ruling is dated June 4. The following headquarters rulings not involving carriers were "modified" on June 6, according to CBP:
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative posted a notice on its website that extends the June 1 deadline to June 15 for goods in transit that will be subject to a Section 301 tariff increase (see 1905310070). Chinese imports subject to the third tranche of Section 301 tariffs that were on the water as of May 10 will stay at the 10 percent tariff rate through June 15. The previously announced HTS subheading, 9903.88.09, will continue to apply to those goods, USTR said.
The New Democrats caucus, which includes the most pro-free-trade members in the party in the House of Representatives, has released a lengthy list of things they want to see in exchange for their votes for the new NAFTA ratification.
Tariffs on Mexican imports would have a profound impact on the U.S. TV business if the Trump administration were to make good on its threat to impose 25 percent duties by Oct. 1 (see 1905310044), suggests our analysis of International Trade Commission import data. ITC statistics show the monetary fallout from 25 percent duties on finished TVs imported from Mexico could possibly exceed that of the threatened 25 percent Section 301 List 4 tariffs on TVs from China, even though China ships many more TVs to the U.S. than Mexico does.