International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Nov. 5-9 in case they were missed.
CBP updated its guidance on how importers of goods excluded from Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum can file entries and receive refunds, it said in a Nov. 8 CSMS message. The message includes information related to the change in policy allowing for product exclusions to apply starting on the day a request was filed with the Department of Commerce (see 1809040035), rather than the day the request was posted for public comment. "To request an administrative refund for previous imports of duty-excluded products granted by DOC, importers may file a [Post Summary Correction (PSC)] and provide the product exclusion number in the Importer Additional Declaration Field," CBP said. "If the entry has already liquidated, importers may protest the liquidation."
The de minimis footnote within the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement is cause for "serious concerns" for the Customs Matters and Trade Facilitation Industry Trade Advisory Committee (ITAC 12), the committee said in an addendum to its report on the trade deal. The addendum, which is dated Oct. 24 but was released by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative this week, is among multiple reports updated after Canada agreed to join the deal between the U.S. and Mexico. While the main advisory committee offered some light criticism in its support of the deal (see 1811060023), individual ITACs included some more pointed concerns.
The aluminum producers of Canada, Mexico and the U.S. have written their leaders -- as well as Mexico's president-elect -- asking that tariffs on aluminum be lifted, without quotas, before Nov. 30. "The USMCA cannot work for the aluminum industry or our many downstream customers without exempting Canada and Mexico from the [Section] 232 tariffs or quotas," the three trade groups wrote in a Nov. 5 letter. They suggested that unnaturally cheap Chinese aluminum cannot come into the U.S. through a free-trade backdoor. "Canada recently moved to align its country of origin marking regime for steel and aluminum products to prevent transshipment and diversion of aluminum and steel. Mexico has initiated an anti-dumping case on aluminum foil imports from China," the letter said, so the tariffs in the region are no longer needed. The U.S. aluminum trade group never supported aluminum tariffs on allies.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Oct. 29 - Nov. 2 in case they were missed.
The main advisory committee for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative unanimously supports the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement as "far better than the existing NAFTA," and encouraged Congress to enact it as quickly as possible. The committee includes three union leaders, and the rest of its 21 members are either from right of center think tanks or business interests.
The Commerce Department's Office of Inspector General announced that it has begun an audit of the Section 232 tariff exclusion process, with the objective of determining whether the Bureau of Industry and Security and International Trade Administration are adhering to the procedures to review those product exclusion requests, and whether "decisions are reached in a consistent and transparent manner."
Because less than a quarter of vehicles sold in the U.S. are assembled outside the NAFTA region, if 25 percent tariffs are levied on auto parts, the impact would be uneven across the auto industry. Mexico parts production -- with substantial room to grow -- is shielded from future tariffs as part of a tariff rate quota system outlined in the new NAFTA. Still, the National Automobile Dealers Association believes the hit to auto sales would be swift and severe. Patrick Mazzi, a senior economist for NADA, talked about the impact of the administration's trade policy at the National Economists Club Nov. 1.
No business or labor group came out against the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, in comments filed to the International Trade Commission, even as some groups expressed concerns about aspects of the deal to replace NAFTA. Comments are due before the ITC holds a hearing on Nov. 15.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Oct. 22-26 in case they were missed.