CBP has assessed about $41 billion in duties under the major trade remedies started during the Trump administration as of Oct. 2, according to CBP's trade statistics page. That includes $31 billion in duties from the Section 301 tariffs on goods from China, up around $4 billion from about a month ago. The assessed tariffs under Section 301 now include the 15 percent tariffs that took effect on Sept. 1 (see 1908270066). CBP also has assessed about $8.1 billion under the Section 232 tariffs on steel and $1.7 billion under tariffs on aluminum. The Section 201 trade remedies on washing machines, washing machine parts and solar cells (see 1801230052), imposed Jan. 23, 2018, account for $1.1 billion in assessed tariffs.
Section 232 Tariffs
The United States currently maintains a 25% tariff on steel imports and 10% on tariff on aluminum imports under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. In 2018, the Trump administration imposed Section 232 Tariffs on steel and aluminum imports into the United States, citing national security concerns. The U.S. agreed to lift tariffs on Canada and Mexico after the signing of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), and reached deals with the European Union, Japan and other countries to replace the tariffs with quotas for steel and aluminum imports into the U.S.
India blocked a first request from the U.S. for the World Trade Organization to form a panel to judge whether the hike in tariffs that India instituted because of the U.S. tariffs on Indian steel and aluminum breaks the rules. The panel is automatically convened after a second request. India delayed retaliating for the Section 232 tariffs for many months, but put them in place after the U.S. removed India from the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program.
CBP created Harmonized System Update (HSU) 1916 on Oct. 1, containing 76 Automated Broker Interface records and 18 Harmonized Tariff Schedule records, it said in a CSMS message. The update includes recently announced exclusions and other changes related to the Section 301 tariffs (see 1909180004). Another change is related to the Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum, CBP said. Modifications required by the verification of the 2019 HTS and to support partner government agency message set functionality are included as well.
The CBP Base Metals Center of Excellence and Expertise is overseeing a huge increase in the number of Post Summary Correction requests for retroactive application of Section 232 exclusions, agency officials recently told the American Institute for International Steel. "The Base Metals Center PSC workload has increased approximately 1500% from pre Section 232," AIIS said. As a result of that volume, "[w]hen exclusions are claimed retroactively by PSC, some time may be required to process," the trade group said.
The U.S. trade representative and India's Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal have been talking on the phone, with the goal of trading a return to the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program for better agricultural access, according to two sources following the trade talks. The original industry complaints about market access filed with USTR, requesting that India be expelled from GSP privileges were from the medical device industry and from the dairy industry. A lawyer following the trade talks said that "there's talk -- and this is still a very contentious issue" -- that the pricing controls on medical devices, such as stents, would be changed in India.
CBP updated its guidance on how importers of goods excluded from Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum should file, to include information about the 232 exclusions portal (see 1906060060). "Importers and filers importing products granted an exclusion should submit the product exclusion number based on the exclusion Request ID using the 232 Exclusion Portal at https://232app.azurewebsites.net/steelalum," CBP said. The agency also provided some new information about quota exclusions that wasn't in the previous guidance released last year (see 1811080015). "Filers are to submit the applicable Chapter 99 HTSUS number i.e. 99038060 for steel articles and 99038511 for aluminum articles," it said. "Do NOT submit 99038061, which expired on March 31, 2019 and is NO LONGER applicable."
CBP has assessed about $35.9 billion in duties under the major trade remedies started during the Trump administration as of Aug. 28, according to CBP's trade statistics page. That includes $27 billion in duties from the Section 301 tariffs on goods from China. The assessed tariffs under Section 301 will likely start to increase quicker once the planned 15 percent tariffs take effect on Sept. 1 (see 1908270066). CBP also has assessed about $6.1 billion under the Section 232 tariffs on steel and $1.7 billion under tariffs on aluminum. The Section 201 trade remedies on washing machines, washing machine parts and solar cells (see 1801230052), imposed Jan. 23, 2018, account for $1 billion in assessed tariffs.
CBP has assessed about $33.4 billion in duties under the major trade remedies started during the Trump administration as of Aug. 7, according to CBP's trade statistics page. That is about an 8 percent increase from the previous update on July 24 (see 1907250020). That includes $24.4 billion in duties from the Section 301 tariffs on goods from China. CBP also has assessed about $6 billion under the Section 232 tariffs on steel and $1.9 billion under tariffs on aluminum. The Section 201 trade remedies on washing machines, washing machine parts and solar cells (see 1801230052), imposed Jan. 23, 2018, account for $962.4 million in assessed tariffs.
CBP has assessed about $30.9 billion in duties under the major trade remedies started during the Trump administration as of July 24, according to CBP's trade statistics page. That includes $22.1 billion in duties from the Section 301 tariffs on goods from China. The first tranche of Section 301 tariffs took effect on July 6, 2018 (see 1807050033); the second took effect on Aug. 23, 2018 (see 1808070046); and the third, on Sept. 24, 2018 (see 1809240015). CBP also has assessed about $6 billion under the Section 232 tariffs on steel and $1.9 billion under tariffs on aluminum. The Section 201 trade remedies on washing machines, washing machine parts and solar cells (see 1801230052), imposed Jan. 23, 2018, account for $933.2 million in assessed tariffs.
Rep. Joe Cunningham, a Democrat who beat a Republican incumbent in South Carolina, recently introduced a bill that would give Congress the ability to block Section 201 or 301 tariffs if they could muster veto-proof majorities. It would also require that Section 232 tariffs be approved by Congress within 60 days of a Commerce Department recommendation if they are to go into effect. The bill, which does not have any co-sponsors, includes a two-year retroactivity period for Section 232 tariffs, which would give Congress the ability to rescind steel and aluminum tariffs. “No President, Democratic or Republican, should be able to unilaterally impose tariffs without Congressional approval. No one wins in a trade war, and this legislation will allow Congress to play a more proactive role in trade policy,” Cunningham said in a press release announcing the bill earlier this month.