The International Trade Commission posted the 2021 Preliminary Edition of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule. The new HTS implements the removal of GSP benefits for many Thai products, as well as the redesignation of the Democratic Republic of the Congo as eligible for AGOA, and the extension of the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act until 2020. New statistical breakouts are also added for many medical products, including those used in the treatment of COVID-19, as well as for industrial turbines and hemp seed, among other goods. Changes take effect Jan. 1, 2021, unless otherwise noted.
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CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
The additional Section 301 tariffs on goods from the European Union announced late Dec. 30 (see 2012300062) will take effect “with respect to products that are entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after 12:01 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on January 12, 2021,” the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said in a notice. USTR said in a Dec. 30 news release that it would increase the tariffs as part of the ongoing World Trade Organization dispute over Airbus subsidies. The announcement disrupts settlement talks and “exceeds the amount of retaliation authorised by the WTO,” a European Commission spokesperson emailed. “The Commission is analysing the data in detail and will look at all options available on how to respond.”
The U.S. Trade Representative will impose additional Section 301 tariffs on goods from the European Union as part of the ongoing World Trade Organization dispute over Airbus subsidies, USTR said in an emailed news release Dec. 30. Products subject to the additional tariffs include “aircraft manufacturing parts from France and Germany, certain non-sparkling wine from France and Germany, and certain cognac and other grape brandies from France and Germany,” USTR said. The release didn't say when the changes would take effect.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Dec. 21-27:
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from Dec. 21-24 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
Witnesses overwhelmingly argued against tariffs on Vietnamese imports, during a virtual hearing Dec. 29 hosted by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, with numerous business representatives saying it was the choice not to sign the Trans-Pacific Partnership, not any kind of currency issue, that makes it harder for U.S. exports to penetrate Vietnam. Trade groups representing importers from Vietnam noted that their members moved sourcing from China to Vietnam precisely to avoid Section 301 tariffs, and some said putting comparable tariffs on Vietnamese imports would cause companies to relocate back to China.
The 22-person witness list for the Dec. 29 virtual Section 301 investigative hearing into allegations that Vietnam deliberately undervalued its currency to thwart U.S. economic growth is stacked heavily with people on record as opposing remedial tariffs on Vietnamese imports. Prehearing submissions in docket USTR-2020-0037 foretell some will also testify that the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is singling out the wrong country for Section 301 currency manipulation review and is doing so for ulterior motives.
Witnesses from the furniture and cabinet sector in both Vietnam and the U.S. argued that Vietnam has greatly improved its governance over illegal imports of tropical wood and, to whatever degree illegal imports still exist, that wood is not then exported to U.S. buyers.
The U.S. Court of International Trade granted a Department of Justice motion requesting leave to file an updated “schedule of cases” related to the first-filed HMTX Industries-Jasco Products Section 301 complaint, according to Chief Judge Timothy Stanceu's Dec. 22 order in docket 1:20-cv-00177. The motion “concerns overall case management of an unusually large volume of cases, none of which have yet been assigned to an individual Judge,” DOJ said. Roughly 3,700 cases have inundated the court, all seeking to vacate the lists 3 and 4A tariff rulemakings on Chinese imports and refunding the duties. The plaintiffs that responded to DOJ’s Sept. 23 motion (see 2009240026) for case management procedures have “generally agreed” that the cases other than the first-filed HMTX-Jasco action “should be stayed while a test-case procedure is implemented,” DOJ said. A schedule of pending cases attached to the motion was updated Dec. 22 and now spans 194 pages, and includes actions filed through Dec. 21.