CBP has “adjudicated” a ruling that will allow manufacturers in foreign-trade zones to avoid Section 232 tariffs on aluminum and steel, as well as planned Section 301 tariffs on products from China, a CBP official said on the agency’s biweekly ACE conference call held June 21. FTZ manufacturing operations have up to now been required by Census Bureau and Commerce Department guidance to enter goods manufactured in FTZs as originating in the country that provided the goods’ highest value in inputs, even if those inputs are worth relatively little and for CBP purposes the country of origin should be the United States. While it hasn’t been an issue before, now that Section 232 duties are in place and Section 301 tariffs are coming it can result in those manufacturers being required to declare a good as subject to the extra tariffs even when the good is of U.S. origin. A ruling is coming that says to use “U.S.” as country of origin for such merchandise on entry documentation, the CBP official said. A search on CBP’s CROSS database indicates the ruling has not been published as of press time.
On the same day that European tariffs went into effect in retaliation for U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs, President Donald Trump tweeted that if the European Union doesn't drop those tariffs and other trade barriers soon, "we will be placing a 20% Tariff on all of their cars coming into the U.S. Build them here!" The Commerce Department is conducting an investigation into whether auto and auto parts exports are a threat to national security. While speaking to reporters at a convention on June 21, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the investigation should be complete in late July or in August.
Among the companies allowed exclusions to the Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum are the Connecticut company that makes Schick razors, which will be allowed to import steel blades from Japan, and U.S. Leakless, an Alabama company that imports Japanese rubber-coated gaskets used in auto transmissions. The Commerce Department accepted 42 steel product exclusion requests from seven companies, it announced on June 20.
The European Union adopted the proposed list of new tariffs on $3.2 billion worth of U.S. goods, the EU said in a June 20 news release. The list is the same as the one it submitted to the World Trade Organization (see 1806010022), and the new tariffs will take effect on June 22, the EU said. Additional tariffs will be added "at a later stage -- in three years' time or after a positive finding in WTO dispute settlement if that should come sooner," it said.
Though the Trump administration’s plan to impose Trade Act Section 301 tariffs of 25 percent on Chinese imports “may have gotten China’s attention, they’re unlikely to change China’s conduct -- and will cause significant collateral damage in the process,” a June 19 Progressive Policy Institute report said. The duties, though applied to “Chinese-origin” products, “would be paid by Americans and impose serious costs on the U.S. economy,” it said. A “smarter strategy” to “confront China’s mercantilism” would be for the U.S. “to work more closely with its trade partners” to curb the allegedly “abusive” trade behavior, the report said. “China’s unfair policies and practices seriously threaten innovative businesses in many countries, and they -- and their governments -- can be key allies in pushing back.” But it’s difficult to build a coalition against China when the administration “needlessly antagonizes allies,” as it did when it imposed steel and aluminum tariffs against its allies, it said. The U.S. also needs to “speak with a single voice” in “focused, results-oriented” trade negotiations with China, the report said. The administration “should designate a single, high-level official to negotiate with China about core trade issues related to China’s unfair innovation practices,” it said. “This official should also actively seek cooperation from allies on those issues.”
The Commerce Department extended the comments period by a week to June 29 on its recently launched Section 232 investigation into the national security effects of “imports of automobiles, including cars, SUVs, vans and light trucks, and automotive parts,” it said in a notice. The agency began the investigation into potential tariffs on May 24, amid reports that President Donald Trump wants a 25 percent tariff on cars and auto parts to counter the purported erosion of the U.S. auto industry by imports (see 1805240002). Rebuttal comments in connection with the investigation are due July 13. Commerce will hold a public hearing on the investigation July 19-20 in Washington, with requests to participate also due June 29.
Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee criticized Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross on June 20 over the steel and aluminum tariffs and the implementation of granting exclusions for certain imports subject to those tariffs. Democrat Sen. Claire McCaskill, who described a nail maker in her home state of Missouri who is laying off more than half its 500-person workforce as its inputs' cost increases, told him: "it appears to me a chaotic and, frankly, incompetent manner you're picking winners and losers." Only Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, asked supportive questions during the hearing on tariffs.
China will implement retaliatory 25 percent tariffs on 545 tariff lines, largely agricultural and auto targets, but also "aquatic products," on July 6, it said in a statement. Like the U.S., it is saving an additional $16 billion in targets in reserve. For China, those will be chemicals, energy imports and medical equipment. For the U.S., semiconductors, plastics, railcars, tractors, cranes and new industrial machinery lines could be in the second phase. China's tariffs are in response to the Section 301 tariffs on imports into the U.S. set to begin July 6 (see 1806150003)
The Senate Finance Committee will question Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross on June 20 about the effects of Section 232 aluminum and steel tariffs and the investigation into auto and auto part imports, which President Donald Trump says are a threat to national security. In announcing the hearing, Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said, “While we share a common goal of pursuing a pro-growth, pro-America agenda, I have made no secret my concerns with the administration’s use of 232 tariffs." He said the cost to manufacturers undermines the positive effects of tax reform. "I remain committed to working with this administration to push trade policies that open up markets for American goods and increase U.S. competitiveness,” he said.
The entire congressional delegation from Washington state sent a letter to the U.S. trade representative, asking him to negotiate a solution with countries facing Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs, because retaliatory tariffs on apples, cherries, pears and potatoes will cost the state's farmers tens of millions of dollars. The letter talks about cherry sales in China, apple sales in India, China and Mexico, and notes, "With cherry harvest beginning in the Pacific Northwest, time is of the essence for our growers."