Today, the Trump Administration and the U.S. House of Representatives revealed plans to move forward with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which will replace the recently defunct North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). USMCA makes a few key changes to NAFTA, which are designed to favor organized labor, regular (non-gig) workers and enhance digital trade […]

The Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act (CBMA), which went into effect in 2017 and reduced tax rates on qualified imports of distilled spirits, beer and wine, is set to expire prior to year’s end. Since its inception, CBMA is estimated to have saved importers and producers of alcohol millions in tax credits. These […]

In a Tweet posted on Monday, October 14th, President Trump announced that Section 232 tariffs on imports of Turkish steel would be bumped back up to 50% effective immediately. The additional tariffs on Turkish steel were initially put in place in August of 2018 and were subsequently reduced to 25% in May of this year. […]

On Friday, October 11th, President Trump announced the postponement of additional duties on over $250 billion worth of Chinese goods amidst positive trade talks with China. The additional tariffs were set to take effect on Tuesday, October 15th and would have increased tariffs on list 1, 2 and 3 items from 25% to 30%. President […]

On October 3rd, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced that additional Section 301 tariffs on European Union (EU) goods will go into effect on October 18th. The USTR has published an official notice in the Federal Register advising importers to prepare for the imposition of additional tariffs (ranging from 10% to 25%) with respect to […]

As you are already aware, the World Trade Organization (WTO) authorized the U.S. to impose additional tariffs on nearly $8 billion worth of European goods in response to the European Union’s (EU) subsidization of Airbus on September 25th. The office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has now released an official list of EU products […]

In response to the United States Trade Representative’s (USTR) recently announced Section 301 List 4A and List 4B tariffs against Chinese products, China now plans to levy additional tariffs totaling $75 billion on U.S. soybeans, automobiles and oil.

Though supply chain disruptions continue to cripple Hong Kong, it appears that it’s not all bad news for China trade today, following the U.S. Trade Representative’s (USTR) announcement that certain products will not be subject to additional 10% tariffs until December 15th. According to the USTR’s announcement, List 4 goods were evaluated based on health, […]

Per our previous Shap Flash, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) had announced that it commenced proceedings under Section 301 of the Trade Act into a long-standing dispute concerning subsidies granted to the large civil aviation industry within the European Union (EU) and other member states. The USTR has recently revealed that it is […]

The U.S. and China are restarting trade negotiations following an enthusiastic meeting between President Trump and President Xi at the G20 summit this past weekend. Negotiations between China and the U.S. had previously stalled amid China’s failure to adequately address intellectual property concerns posed by the U.S., resulting in increased tariffs on all products falling […]

Per our previous Shap Flashes, the office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced plans to establish an exclusion process for products subject to Section 301 List 3 tariffs. The electronic portal allowing for exclusion submission requests will go live on Sunday, June 30th, 2019 at 12:00 PM. If you are “feeling the heat” in the kitchen as a result […]

Friday, May 31st was a busy day!  In addition to announcing the termination of GSP privileges for India effective 6/5, the office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) shared that goods shipped prior to May 10th that fall under List 3 will NOT be subjected to an additional 15% in duties (from 10% to […]