On September 15, the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) announced it will revoke the 10% tariff on imports of non-alloyed, unwrought aluminum products from Canada that originally went into effect on August 16. The decision to rescind Section 232 duties was made in light of an expected 50% decline in average monthly US […]

A new lawsuit has been filed in the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) targeting the legality of List 3 and List 4 tariffs on Chinese goods pursuant to Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. Specifically, the lawsuit alleges that List 3 and List 4 tariffs were imposed untimely and were created to […]

On September 11th, President Trump announced that the U.S. will postpone the planned tariff rate increase from 25% to 30% on Section 301 List 1, 2 and 3 Chinese products, originally scheduled to take effect October 1st, until October 15th. Trump’s ‘goodwill gesture’, in honor of the People’s Republic of China’s 70th anniversary on October […]

Per our previous Shap Flashes, on Sunday, June 30th, 2019, the office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced the implementation of an electronic portal to aid in the process of filing Section 301 List 3 tariff exclusions. While the portal has been active for a couple months now, please note that all Section 301 […]

Scope rulings and anti-circumvention inquiries are two areas targeted for significant changes in the proposed Department of Commerce (DOC) regulations. In one critical change, an affirmative scope or anti-circumvention inquiry decision would apply retroactively to all unliquidated entries. The implementation would revert to the original date for suspension of liquidation under the AD/CVD order, usually […]

With a 19% surge in imports from China to US and a 19% fall in exports to China in June-July, we are experiencing a situation that is growing with no sign of immediate relief. As a result of the early summer surges, an alarming trend in equipment shortages that started in August is expected to […]

On September 3rd, the office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) released an official notice seeking public comments on Section 301 List 1, 2 and 3 tariff rate increases (from 25% to 30%) scheduled to take effect October 1st. The USTR has asked for public comments to include: Details as to whether the tariff increases […]

As a reminder, most of the exclusions for List 4A goods are set to expire on September 1, 2020. On August 28, 2020, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced that only eighty-seven (87) products from all eight rounds of List 4A exclusions published thus far will be granted extensions. Click here to […]

Per our Shap Flash on August 24th, President Trump announced via Twitter that List 4A and 4B tariffs will be increased from 10% to 15% in response to the imposition of retaliatory tariffs on $75 billion worth of U.S. products exported to China. On August 30th, the office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) will […]

In the latest escalation in the China-U.S. trade war, President Trump elicited a series of tweets on Friday, August 23rd stating that Section 301 tariffs imposed on Chinese products would increase across the board.

Earlier this month, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) released a Federal Register notice advising importers that products made in Hong Kong will need to be marked as made in China beginning September 25, 2020. However, CBP has just released another notice revealing their decision to extend the transition period for compliance through November 9, […]

In the Federal Register Notice dated August 2, 2019, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has announced fee increases adjusted to reflect inflation effective October 1, 2019. These fees will directly affect your Customs entry. For instance, the Merchandise Processing Fee (MPF) limitation for formal entries (class code 499) will increase from $26.22 to $26.79 […]

On August 15th, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced that additional 10% tariffs (later raised to 15%) on Section 301 List 4A and 4B Chinese goods would be applied based on the entry date—which is the date the cargo arrives in U.S Customs territory or the date the Customs entry is filed, whichever is later. […]

As you are already aware, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) imposed Section 301 tariffs on $7.5 billion worth of European goods in response to the European Union’s (EU) subsidization of Airbus in October 2019. Although the USTR already modified the list of EU products subject to additional tariffs earlier this year, the […]

Recent political turmoil and massive protests in Hong Kong have led to an unofficial labor strike today, Monday August 5, 2019. At this time, over 170 flights to Hong Kong have already been rerouted and/or cancelled, train stations are closed, and other major transportation routes have been blocked by the congestion. Most offices in Hong […]

Effective August 12th, Hong Kong Airport officials have cancelled all flights to and from Hong Kong until further notice, in light of worsening city-wide protests. At this time, it is unknown when authorities plan to resume regular airport operations. Per our Shap Flash on August 5th, most offices and major transportation routes have already been […]

As you are already aware, President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order officially revoking preferential economic treatment for Hong Kong in response to mainland China’s enforcement of a controversial security law effective July 14. Now, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has released an official notice in the Federal Register advising importers that products made […]

On August 6, President Trump announced that, effective August 16, 2020, a 10% tariff will be reinstated on imports of non-alloyed unwrought aluminum products from Canada. According to Trump, the decision to reapply Section 232 duties was made in light of recent data indicating the continued growth in imports of these articles from Canada, thereby […]

On August 6, 2020, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced that only two hundred and sixty-six (266) products from all 15 rounds of Section 301 tariff exclusions on List 3 goods will be granted extensions. As the exclusions for List 3 goods were set to expire on August 7, 2020, this means that […]

On August 5, 2020, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) issued its eighth set of product exclusions from Section 301 List 4A Chinese tariffs. The List 4A notice contains 1 HTS subheading that is completely excluded and 9 partially excluded subheadings from Section 301 tariffs, covering 25 separate exclusion requests. All cargo that […]