CBP created Harmonized System Update (HSU) 1910 on June 3, containing 1,379 Automated Broker Interface records and 283 Harmonized Tariff Schedule records, it said in a CSMS message. The update includes modifications related to USTR's extension of the Section 301 tariff increase from 10% to 25% to June 15 for ships that were already on the water as of May 10 (see 1905310070). It also includes changes related to the removal of India from eligibility for the Generalized System of Preferences program (see 1905310072). Modifications required by the verification of the 2019 HTS are included as well.
Section 301 (too broad)
Trade groups that represent steel-consuming industries say it's wrong to think that just because there haven't been massive job losses the tariffs aren't economically significant to their members.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is publishing its latest list of product exclusions from the first tranche of $34 billion in Section 301 tariffs on China (see 1905090067). This fifth list of exclusions includes one full tariff schedule subheading, as well as 88 subsets of tariff numbers in chapters 84, 85 and 90. The new exclusions take effect retroactively from July 6, 2018, when the $34 billion in tariffs originally entered into force, and will remain for one year following publication of USTR’s notice. USTR is creating Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading 9903.88.10 for the new set of exclusions.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative issued a fifth list of product exclusions from Section 301 tariffs on goods from China. Newly exempt from the tariffs is one 10-digit subheading, 8537.10.8000, in its entirety, as well as "88 specially prepared product descriptions." The exclusions cover 464 separate requests, according to the notice, which is scheduled for publication in the June 4 Federal Register. The product exclusions apply retroactively to July 6, 2018, the date the first set of tariffs took effect, and will remain in effect until one year after the notice is published.
CBP has yet to update ACE to reflect the delayed deadline for the Section 301 tariff increase, the agency said in a May 31 CSMS message. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced on May 31 that the previously planned June 1 tariff increase for affected goods from China would instead go into effect on June 15 (see 1905310070). "Importers entering subject goods on or after June 1, 2019 which were exported before May 10, 2019, and would be affected by this change, should consider waiting to file the entry summary pursuant to the ten day entry summary filing period," the agency said. "This will allow importers to file the appropriate duty rate with the entry summary when CBP updates ACE."
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. Originally, the tariffs were set to rise to 25 percent for entries on or after June 1. There will be a notice in the Federal Register next week, USTR said after hours May 31. "This limited extension will further account for customs enforcement factors and the transit time between China and the United States by sea," the press release said.
Six weeks ago, the senior vice president of the U.S.-China Business Council believed the Trump administration's pressure was successfully empowering Chinese officials who believe in reforming China's capitalist/state-controlled hybrid economy. "I was pretty optimistic that we were, as a consequence, going to be able to say that the administration had achieved things that probably no previous administration had genuinely been able to achieve," Erin Ennis told an audience member at the Washington International Trade Association China trade panel May 29.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for May 20-24 in case they were missed.
CBP will provide updates on trade statistics on a new page. The page includes information on total imports and revenue collections, as well as information on duty assessments from the recent Sections 201, 232 and 301 trade remedies. The statistics also show an uptick from fiscal year 2017 to fiscal year 2018 in completed audits, collections that were a result of importer audits, and trade penalties issued. There was a decrease in liquidated damages and total trade seizures in that time frame.
HP’s forecast for its fiscal year 2019 ending Oct. 31 only factors in the expected financial impact to the company from the List 3 Section 301 tariffs currently in place, including the increase to 25 percent from 10 percent that took effect May 10, Chief Financial Officer Steve Fieler said on a fiscal Q2 earnings call May 23. “We have not included the impact from any future tariffs,” he said, referencing the List 4 duties proposed May 17 on the $300 billion in Chinese imports not previously tariffed. HP continues to operate “in a dynamic environment that includes ongoing industry component constraints as well as macroeconomic, geopolitical and tariff uncertainties,” CEO Dion Weisler said. “But we have a highly experienced team and know how to navigate through complex market conditions.”