On July 13, 2021, the U.S. Departments of Commerce, State, Treasury, Commerce and Homeland Security and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative issued an updated Advisory on supply-chain risks for U.S. businesses whose business activities may be implicated by human rights concerns related to forced labor in and outside of Xinjiang, China.
The updated
Last Friday, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (“USTR”) issued lists of products from six countries that may be subject to additional 25 percent tariffs. The proposed product lists identified by USTR are designed to offset digital services taxes (“DST”)[1] imposed by Austria, India, Italy, Spain, Turkey and the United Kingdom, and
On March 10, 2021, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) published an extension of the COVID-19 related medical-care and response product exclusions from Section 301 duties covering imports from China. The agency determined it would be inappropriate to allow the exclusions to lapse in consideration of the ongoing efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. The
The WTO has given final approval for the EU to impose tariffs on at least $4 billion of U.S. goods in retaliation over illegal aid in connection with the Boeing/Airbus aircraft dispute. The EU has set a target date of November 10, 2020 to impose tariffs, regardless of the outcome of the U.S. presidential election. Press accounts indicate the EU Commission has given EU member states until November 3 to provide input on the targeted products.
While the U.S. and the EU have indicated general support for a settlement of the 16-year aircraft dispute, the two sides continue to disagree on settlement terms. The EU has urged the U.S. to remove tariffs over EU subsidies to Airbus because it has repealed those programs, while the U.S. contends that since it has already removed the subsidies to Boeing, there is no legitimate basis for EU retaliation. It seems unlikely the parties will reach a settlement by the November 10, 2020 deadline. The EU has stated that it will move forward with the tariffs if there is no settlement by November 10, 2020.
Continue Reading EU Targets November 10 for Imposition of Nearly $4 Billion in Tariffs on U.S. Goods in Aircraft Case
Importers of vinyl flooring filed a case at the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) on September 10, challenging the Administration’s application of tariffs on products from China on Lists 3 and 4 pursuant to USTR’s intellectual property Section 301 investigation.
The complaint alleges that the President’s imposition of tariffs to products on these lists,
On July 10, USTR published a notice of action in the Section 301 investigation of France’s digital services tax announcing the imposition of additional 25 percent duties on certain products from France covering an estimated $1.3 billion of trade. The additional tariffs are effective January 6, 2021, pursuant to a 180-day suspension period.
A comprehensive
In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, USTR issued a Federal Register Notice requesting public comments on the possibility of removing the application of China Section 301 duties from medical care products, including inputs used to produce such needed medical care products.
The comment period will remain open until at least June 25, 2020, however,
On October 18, 2019, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced an exclusion process for products included on China Section 301 List 4A, which covers approximately $120 billion of imports. Imported products on this list are presently subject to an additional 15 percent duty, which went into effect September 1, 2019 – that duty
On October 28, 2019, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced plans to begin considering extensions of up to one year for certain previously-granted product exclusions from Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports. From November 1 – November 30, USTR will accept comments for or against product exclusions that are set to expire December 28, 2019.
The relevant product exclusions were granted December 28, 2018 in USTR’s initial set of exclusions from Section 301 duties on Chinese imports that took effect July 6, 2018. The 25 percent tariff covered more than 800 tariff lines, representing approximately $34 billion in annual trade value. In its December 28 action, USTR granted exclusions for more than 1,000 specific products classified within a tariff-covered 8-digit HTSUS subheading.
USTR subsequently issued seven more rounds of product exclusions from its July 6, 2018 tariff action (all expiring one year from the date of publication in the Federal Register) and continues considering exclusion requests for subsequent tariff actions. While additional extension request opportunities are anticipated going forward, the current opportunity only covers exclusions granted on December 28, 2018.
As detailed in a draft Federal Register Notice, USTR will evaluate the possible extension of each exclusion on a case-by-case basis. USTR has indicated it will focus its evaluation on whether the product under consideration remains only available from China. USTR will also consider whether additional duties would result in severe economic harm to U.S. interests. Additionally, USTR has asked commenters to address:
Continue Reading USTR Begins Process to Consider Extending Certain Section 301 Product Exclusions
On October 18, the United States Trade Representative announced an exclusion process for products included on China Section 301 List 4A, which covers $300 billion of imports. Imported products on this list are presently subject to an additional 15 percent duty, which went into effect September 1, 2019.
Importers of products on List 4A
