July 2020 - Customs & International Trade Law Firm

China Tariff Update – List 2 Exclusions Extended

If you import goods subject to List 2/Tranche 2 China tariffs, read on!

Background:

Effective August 23, 2018, the U.S. Trade Representative imposed additional 25 percent duties on goods of China classified in 279 eight-digit subheadings of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), with an approximate annual trade value of $16 billion. See 83 FR 40823 for List 2; the $16 billion action. The U.S. Trade Representative’s determination included a decision to establish a process by which U.S. stakeholders could request exclusion of particular products classified within an eight-digit HTSUS subheading covered by the $16 billion action from the additional duties. The U.S. Trade Representative issued a notice setting out the process for the product exclusions and opened a public docket. See 83 FR 47236 (the September 18 notice). […]

By Jennifer Diaz|2022-07-07T14:22:48-04:00July 31, 2020|Best Practices, China, China Trade War, HTSUS, Import, Intellectual Property Rights, International Business, International Law, International Trade, Investigation, IPR, Trademarks and Logos, Supply Chain|0 Comments

More Section 301 Tariff Exclusion Requests Granted For List 4

Nearly a year ago, on August 20, 2019, President Trump and the United States Trade Representative (USTR) imposed a 10 percent ad valorem on imported goods from China, worth an estimated $300 Billion (Tranche or List 4), due to the US’ Section 301 investigation of China’s acts, policies, and practices related to technology transfer, intellectual property, and innovation. Then, on August 30, 2019, the 10 percent ad valorem was raised to a 15 percent ad valorem. On January 22, 2020, the USTR, lowered the ad valorem on goods included on Annex A of List 4 to 7.5 percent and suspended the duties entirely for goods included on Annex C. See 84 FR 69447, 85 FR 3741.

Following the publication of the tariffs, USTR published an Exclusion Process Procedures on October 24, 2019. The July 23, 2020, Federal Register Notice announced that USTR has determined to grant exclusions to items included in the Annex, as well as make certain amendments to previously announced exclusions. Some of the changes are conforming amendments, while others are technical corrections to previously published exclusions.

The notice detailed that “the exclusions are reflected in 11 existing ten-digit HTSUS subheadings and 53 specially prepared product descriptions, which together respond to 242 separate exclusion requests….”

The notice clarified that regardless of who submitted an exclusion request, if a request is granted to any given HTSUS, all items under that HTSUS have been granted exclusion, too. Additionally, remember to check Federal Register Notices because USTR will continue to […]

By Jennifer Diaz|2022-07-07T14:22:05-04:00July 27, 2020|China, China Trade War, Customs Expert, Export, Import, Intellectual Property Rights, International Business, International Law, International Trade, IPR, Trademarks and Logos, Supply Chain, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)|0 Comments

6th Round of Section 301 Tariff (List 1) Exclusions Extended

Just over two years ago, on July 6, 2018, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) levied an estimated $34 Billion in Tariffs (also known as Tranche 1 or List 1) or against imports into the U.S. from the Chinese Communist Party due to the US’ Section 301 investigation of China’s acts, policies, and practices related to technology transfer, intellectual property, and innovation.

Following the publication of the tariffs, on July 11, 2018, USTR published Exclusion Process Procedures for items included on List 1. Petitioners were required to submit their requests by October 9, 2018, and USTR began granting exclusions in December 2018. Since the initial imposition of the Section 301 duties, USTR has granted 10 rounds of exclusions totaling more than 6,200 requests for List 1. Additionally, there are still more than 6,500 exclusion requests still pending approval for the Action taken on August 20, 2019.

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By Jennifer Diaz|2022-07-07T14:21:14-04:00July 23, 2020|China, China Trade War, Customs Expert, Import, Intellectual Property Rights, International Law, International Trade, Investigation, Supply Chain, U.S Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)|0 Comments

CBP Seizes $800k of Human Hair From China Alleging Forced Labor

On July 1, 2020, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers in Newark, New Jersey seized an import from China of roughly 13 tons of beauty products and accessories, discovered products made of human hair. The shipment, which came from the Xinjiang Region of China is estimated to be worth over $800,000.00.

The import was seized as a result of a June 17, 2020, Withhold Release Order (WRO) for “imported merchandise made wholly or in part with hair products produced by Lop County Meixin Hair Product Co. Ltd. (Meixin) in Xinjiang, China”.

According to CBP’s Executive Assistant Commissioner for the Office of Trade, there had already been evidence that reasonably indicated that the Chinese hair product company had been using prison labor to produce their merchandise, which is prohibited by Federal statute 19 U.S.C. 1307.

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By Jennifer Diaz|2021-04-09T10:52:19-04:00July 23, 2020|Best Practices, China, China Trade War, Customs Expert, Detention, Enforcement, Import, International Business, International Law, International Trade, Investigation, Pre-compliance, Supply Chain, U.S Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)|7 Comments