The deadline for comments to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative had already passed on Vietnam currency manipulation when the Treasury Department released its finding that Vietnam is a currency manipulator, and 24 trade groups are asking for the comment period to be reopened and the Dec. 29 hearing to be delayed. The groups that signed the Dec. 18 letter to USTR include the American Apparel and Footwear Association, the Retail Industry Leaders Association and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. USTR did not immediately comment.
Section 301 (too broad)
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from Dec. 14-18 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The Consumer Technology Association would be “extremely affected and disappointed” by any Trump administration rush to impose Trade Act Section 301 tariffs on Vietnamese imports before leaving office, President Gary Shapiro said in a Dec. 16 interview. “Our industry has suffered, in the national interest in a sense, because of U.S. positions taken on China,” he said, and additional tariffs on goods from Vietnam would be an unexpected, secondary blow.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Dec. 7-13:
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from Dec. 7-11 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
Seventy-five House members, led by Rep. Jackie Walorski, R-Ind., Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Minn., Rep. Ron Kind, D-Wis., and Rep. Darin LaHood, R-Ill., are asking U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to automatically extend all product exclusions for the China tariffs. Their letter, sent Dec. 11, says that some expiring exclusions cover personal protective gear and equipment that would be used to administer vaccines. “Additionally, extending these exclusions will provide needed certainty for employers and help save jobs,” they wrote. “We recognize that the exclusions were granted in part on the premise that businesses need adequate time to relocate their supply chains out of China. However... [w]ith global travel essentially shut down, it has been difficult, if not impossible, for company representatives to travel to and inspect potential new sites and to build relationships with new partners.”
The Treasury Department published its fall 2020 regulatory agenda for CBP. The agenda now mentions a proposal to end the de minimis exemption for goods subject to Section 301 tariffs. The proposal was previously disclosed by the Office of Management and Budget (see 2009040026), where it remains under review. Brenda Smith, CBP executive assistant international trade commissioner, recently cited some operational concerns with the idea (see 2011100034).
The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated Dec. 10. The following headquarters rulings were modified recently, according to CBP:
Golf clubs assembled in Mexico from titanium heads manufactured in Taiwan and carbon fiber shafts from China must be marked products of both, and the value of the shaft is subject to Section 301 tariffs, CBP said in a Dec. 2 ruling. The golf clubs do not undergo a substantial transformation in Mexico nor the required USMCA tariff shift, and both the shaft and head give the golf clubs their essential character, CBP said in ruling HQ H312495, posted to the agency’s ruling database on Dec. 10.
The Coalition for a Prosperous America, a nonprofit allied with President Donald Trump's views on trade, is arguing not to extend exclusions for Section 301 tariffs because companies have had “ample time” to move their supply chains out of China. “Any bemoaning from the import lobby that relies on China should have looked to home first. There are plenty of Americans and American businesses that can fulfill their supply chain needs,” CPA Chairman Dan DiMicco and CEO Michael Stumo wrote to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.