First-quarter consumer tech imports in the key categories of smartphones, laptops, tablets and TVs declined somewhat from Q4, but remained well ahead of their Q1 2020 volumes, according to Census data accessed through the International Trade Commission’s DataWeb tool. As the National Retail Federation reported, the robust year-over-year Q1 growth rates in some import categories may have been “artificially high” due to comparisons with first quarter 2020, when much of the Asian supply chain was mired in the first COVID-19 global lockdowns.
Section 301 (too broad)
Very few businesses testified at a live hearing May 6 on the tariff targets for the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain and Austria, in response to those countries' digital services taxes, but dozens of firms and trade groups submitted comments to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
CBP saw a record 38 million Type 86 entries in April, said Jim Swanson, CBP director-cargo and conveyance security and controls, who was speaking virtually to the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America conference on May 5. That's still not capturing the full scope of small packages that come into the U.S. under de minimis, which tops 600 million.
The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated May 4. The following headquarters rulings were modified recently, according to CBP:
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of April 26 - May 2:
Trade groups whose members would have to pay foreign digital services taxes and trade groups whose members would have to pay if tariffs are hiked up to 25% on products from the countries imposing DSTs agree that DSTs are wrong and that the government should use all its persuasive power to convince countries like India, the United Kingdom and Spain not to impose these taxes. But the internet trade groups split on whether tariffs are the right tool to convince countries to roll back or never pass DSTs, and retailers and apparel and footwear companies say the tariffs will hurt American businesses and consumers more than the targeted exporters.
The International Trade Commission on April 26 issued Revision 3 to the 2021 Basic Edition of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule. The only change was the addition of language to apply Section 301 exclusions to goods on the water in May-June 2019 at the time an increase in the tariffs, from 10% to 25%, was announced (see 2104230047). U.S. Note 20(l) to Subchapter III of Chapter 99 is amended to add the following: “the product exclusions provided by headings 9903.88.13, 9903.88.18, 9903.88.33, 9903.88.34, 9903.88.35, 9903.88.36, 9903.88.37, 9903.88.38, 9903.88.40, 9903.88.41, 9903.88.43, 9903.88.45, 9903.88.46 and 9903.88.48 shall apply to articles the product of China that were entered under heading 9903.88.09 and that are provided for in this subdivision." A compiler’s note says: “The last sentence of this paragraph applied to such articles exported before May 10, 2019, and entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, into the United States on or after May 10, 2019, and before June 15, 2019.”
A newly issued CBP ruling further clarifies how the agency determines country of origin for electric motors. After having recently found that the stator and the rotor are the “most essential components” of an electric motor and, under a substantial transformation analysis, determine the country of origin (see 2104210041), the agency on April 22 issued another ruling that considered motors where the rotor and stator were made in different countries, and found the stator assembly controlling.
The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated April 27. The following headquarters rulings were modified recently, according to CBP:
Two Democrats and two Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee, along with 98 colleagues, are asking the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to re-establish an application process for exclusions to Section 301 tariffs. In an April 27 letter, led by Reps. Ron Kind, D-Wis., Jackie Walorski, R-Ind., Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., and Rep. Darin LaHood, R-Ill., they also say they believe companies that had exclusions that have expired should have expedited procedures for getting a new exclusion.