CBP will add the ability in ACE for importers to file entries with recently excluded goods in the fourth tranche of Section 301 tariffs on Aug. 6, it said in a CSMS message. The official Office of the U.S. Trade Representative notice for the exclusions was published July 23 (see 2007210026). The exclusions are in subheading 9903.88.53. The exclusions are available for any product that meets the description in the Annex to USTR’s notice, regardless of whether the importer filed an exclusion request. The product exclusions apply retroactively to Sept. 1, 2019, the date the tariffs on the fourth list took effect, and remain in effect until Sept. 1, 2020. The CSMS message also includes a summary of Section 301 duties that shows information on each tranche of tariffs and granted product exclusions.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
Former U.S. trade representative Bob Zoellick laughed when a webinar moderator asked him how a pro-free-trade consensus can be re-established. Zoellick was on a Carnegie Endowment for International Peace webinar about the future of the global trading system with European Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan June 30. He said those who support free trade have always had a fight, because politics often align with protecting domestic producers from import competition.
The International Trade Commission recently issued several revisions to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule to implement new and amended Section 301 exclusions and complete its July 1 implementation of USMCA. Most recently, in Revision 17, issued July 28, the ITC implemented a new round of exclusions from list 4 Section 301 tariffs under U.S. Note 20(fff) to subchapter III of Chapter 99, and new subheading 9903.88.53 (see 2007210026). The ITC also amended tariff numbers listed for some exclusions in U.S. Note 20(ddd).
As importers await CBP guidance on imports from Hong Kong, some think there still may be more to come from a recent executive order suspending Hong Kong’s special status under certain trade laws. While the order only mentioned country of origin marking on the import side, “I also suspect that the details will continue to emerge and that other restrictions may be applied,” Lawrence Friedman of Barnes Richardson said by email.
Correction: The Court of International Trade's denied protest jurisdiction isn’t relevant in Trebbianno's lawsuit seeking refunds of Section 301 tariffs because the exclusions were not a CBP decision (see 2007270051), said Chris Kane of Simon Gluck, who represents Trebbianno, in a post on LinkedIn.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of July 20-26:
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The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will grant extensions to 14 exclusions from the second list of Section 301 tariffs on goods from China that were due to expire July 31, it said in a notice. The 55 exclusions that weren't extended, all listed in U.S. Note 20(o) to subchapter III of chapter 99 and filed under subheading 9903.88.12, will expire July 31. The 14 extended exclusions will now expire Dec. 31, USTR said.
An importer has filed suit at the Court of International Trade seeking refunds on Section 301 tariffs based on exclusions issued after the relevant entries liquidated. Trebbianno, which does business as Showroom 35, seeks refunds of $270,040.90 in duties it paid on its imports of handbags, wallets and purses that were subsequently included under retroactive exclusions issued by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.