PDR CHB US Customs Broker

01/29/2020

President Trump signed the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (“USMCA”) implementing legislation into law earlier today. The USMCA contains new provisions that were not in NAFTA (e.g., digital trade, data storage location requirements, etc.) and makes changes to others (e.g., agriculture; financial services; de minimis; certain rules of origin, such as for autos; investor protections; trade remedies, etc.). There are also side letters on how products of Canada and of Mexico will be treated, if the United States proceeds to impose additional duties on autos and auto parts (or other products) under Section 232 (which seems to be back on the table).

The USMCA is scheduled to take effect 90 days after the last country notifies the others that it has completed its domestic procedures for ratification. Mexico completed its process in December, and the United States did so today. Canada has just begun its domestic process and, while the prospects for ratification may be less than they once were in Canada, it is still widely-expected to be concluded sometime this spring. As result, it appears that USMCA could go into effect on or about July 1, 2020.

There is a great deal in the revised agreement that all companies with meaningful NAFTA (or now, USMCA) activity should be reviewing to determine how it impacts their operations. For example, companies should be confirming whether the applicable rules of origin have changed (particularly if you are in the auto industry), how the transition from being an “exporter-based agreement” (NAFTA) to an “importer-based agreement” (USMCA) will impact NAFTA/USMCA solicitation/certification efforts in the future, what happens if the NAFTA Marking Rules no longer apply to imports from Canada or Mexico and instead the traditional substantial transformation test applies (as we have seen under Section 301, the ST and NMR do not always produce the same result), how a possible mid-year implementation impacts regional value content calculations on imports from IMMEX/maquila companies, etc.

01/27/2020

On Friday, January 24, 2020, President Trump announced and signed a proclamation
increasing Section 232 tariffs on derivative steel products by an additional 25 percent, while
also increasing tariffs on derivative aluminum products by another 10 percent. The increase
expands to existing tariffs that had sat at 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum.
Countries exempted from additional tariffs on steel include Argentina, Australia, Brazil,
Canada, Mexico and South Korea. Countries exempted from added tariffs on aluminum
products include Argentina, Australia, Canada and Mexico.
The tariff increase will take place on February 8, 2020. Changes in the Harmonized Tariff
Schedule will be announced in the Federal Register, once published.

01/16/2020

Client Advisory

List 4A Duties to Reduce to 7.5% on February 14th
January 16, 2020



The U.S. Trade Representative will be publishing shortly a notice in the Federal Register whereby the 301 duties for List 4A will be reduced from 15% to 7.5% effective February 14, 2020. The U.S. and China signed a Phase One trade deal on January 15, 2020.

This agreement is scheduled to enter into force 30 days later on February 14, 2020. In light of the agreement, the USTR has determined to reduce the 301 duties imposed on List 4A.

The 25% 301 tariffs on Lists 1, 2, and 3 will remain in effect.

11/05/2018

Watch China grow

11/01/2018

08/09/2018

https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-tariffs-china-trade-war-chinese-goods-2018-8

The Trump administration announced that the US will impose a 25% tariff on an additional $16 billion worth of Chinese goods starting August 23. China replied with a tariff on US goods of equal size and scope. The move and countermove are the latest in the growing trade war between Trump and China.

08/07/2018

https://www.strtrade.com/f-tariff-actions-resources.html

Info, deadlines & resource documents on the various U.S. tariff actions & responses. Includes the Section 232 investigations of steel / aluminum & automobiles / auto parts, & the Section 301 investigation of China. Includes all affected products by HTS number, exclusion requests, & comment & hearing...

08/02/2018

25 Percent Tariff Increase on $200 Billion Worth of Imports from China Under Consideration

Thursday, August 02, 2018

The additional tariff proposed in July on $200 billion worth of goods imported from China could be increased from 10 percent to 25 percent under a new directive from President Trump. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said this possible change is intended to provide the administration with additional options to encourage China to “change its harmful policies and adopt policies that will lead to fairer markets and prosperity for all our citizens.”

The possible tariff increase would apply to 6,031 tariff lines from China (full list available here). It would be part of the Trump administration’s response to a Section 301 investigation determination that China’s acts, policies, and practices related to technology transfer, intellectual property, and innovation are unreasonable and discriminatory. Also as part of that response the administration has already imposed an additional 25 percent tariff on $34 billion worth of Chinese goods effective July 6 and could extend that tariff to an additional $16 billion worth of imports from China in the near future.

USTR’s previously announced hearing on the possible tariff increase will still be held Aug. 20-23 in Washington, D.C. However, requests to appear at the hearing are now due by Aug. 13 and the deadline for post-hearing rebuttal comments has been extended from Aug. 30 to Sept. 5.

Source:
ST&R

07/23/2018

July 21, 2018 - The nationwide indefinite strike by transporters received a mixed response on the first day, as truckers' talks with the government remained inconclusive.

Parvinder Singh Bhatia, president of Federation of Madhya Pradesh Motors and Goods Transport Association, claimed that 95% of the state's nearly 25,000 transporters are participating in the strike.

Their key demands include: simplification of the e-way bill mechanism under the Goods and Services Tax (GST), lowering of diesel prices, rationalization of toll rates, and a lower third-party insurance premium exempt from GST.

Source: Excerpted from BloombergQuint

07/12/2018

US, China hit each other with $34 billion in tariffs

July 6, 2018 - The U.S. imposed 25% duties on $34 billion worth of Chinese imports Friday morning, following through on a proposal in June to subject more than 800 products to duties. Tariffs on another $16 billion in goods is scheduled to take effect in two weeks, for a total of $50 billion.

Source: Supply Chain Dive

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