DALLAS -- Audio companies are bracing for the impact of the 10 percent Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports that took effect a month ago, and are holding out hope that the Jan. 1 increase to 25 percent won't come to pass, vendors said at the fall meeting of the Home Technology Specialists of America. JL Audio, which sells subwoofers for the home market and speakers, subs and amplifiers for the marine and automotive spaces, is raising prices 6 percent on Nov. 15 on its home product line, said Doug Henderson, senior vice president-home audio.
PALM SPRINGS, Calif. -- CBP is increasing staffing levels at its Office of Regulatory Audit to keep up with “the revenue on the table” from the recent imposition of new tariffs and the Trump administration’s push for more enforcement, said Tom Jesukiewicz, field director of regulatory audit’s Los Angeles office, at the Western Cargo Conference on Oct. 20.
A letter from 10 Democratic senators to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer complained about the fact that no exclusion process has been set up for the nearly $200 billion in goods from China subject to an additional 10 percent tariff under Section 301. Sen. Tim Kaine, who led the letter, asked why there hasn't been an exclusion process for the third tranche, while there is one for the first and second rounds of the tariffs. The senators urged that an exclusion process be established immediately, given that this third tranche of tariffs is set to increase to 25 percent on Jan. 1. Kaine also asked if there is any intention to implement an exclusion application process, and if so, how it will be implemented. A group of House lawmakers also asked Lighthizer about the exclusions process earlier this month (see 1810160049). A Republican Senate trade staffer said Oct. 23 that USTR is not pursuing an exclusion process for this larger list. He said the office still hasn't granted any exclusions from the first two lists, and allowing applications for the third tranche would be a logistical problem.
PALM SPRINGS, Calif. -- Piecemeal bond increases to satisfy CBP insufficiency notices won’t be enough to dig importers out of the hole created by recently imposed sections 232 and 301 tariffs on aluminum and steel and products from China, respectively, said Dave Jordan of Roanoke Trade on Oct. 20. While CBP looks at duties paid over the past 12 months to set bond requirements, importers have likely seen their duty liability spike in the past few months since the tariffs were imposed, and will “probably end up with an insufficiency letter again in a few months” as more time passes with the tariffs in effect, he said, speaking at the Western Cargo Conference. Importers should do their own calculations, taking the month with the highest amount of duties paid, multiplying that by 12 months and setting a bond at 10 percent of that amount. For example, an importer that averaged $500,000 in duties paid over the last two months should extrapolate that to $6 million over the year and get a bond for $600,000. Some importers' products covered by multiple trade remedies could see bond requirements rise substantially, Jordan said. One of his clients, an importer of solar panels subject to Section 201 safeguards and Section 301 tariffs, started with an $800,000 bond that’s now up to $11 million, he said. CBP has urged importers to be “proactive” in setting their bond amounts (see 1808210029), given the recent spike in insufficiency notices (see 1807260011).
Quota processing for quota entry summary lines with three or more Harmonized Tariff Schedule codes will require manual input by CBP, the agency said in a CSMS message. That situation may occur "if the line is properly classified with two chapter 99 HTS codes (a section 301 HTS and a quota HTS) and the commodity HTS," it said. "Until a programming fix can be implemented, once you have successfully transmitted into ACE a summary including a quota line with three or more HTS codes, please email your entry details to HQQUOTA@cbp.dhs.gov and your assigned Client Representative for assistance," the agency said.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Oct. 15-19 in case they were missed.
The International Trade Commission posted Revision 13 to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule, adding provisions in Chapter 99 to implement tariff exemptions under the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill. All previously included notes to Subchapter II to Chapter 99 are eliminated. New tariff subheadings 9902.01.01 through 9902.18.01 are added, covering the goods that received duty exemptions in the latest MTB (see 1809140004). All of these changes took effect along with the MTB on Oct. 13. The tariff exemptions are in effect until the end of 2020. Though MTB grants exemptions from general duty rates, Section 301 and other additional duties still apply (see 1810150051).
CBP's CSMS message on changes to the Section 301 tariff subheadings that removed frozen salmon from the list (see 1809280045) included a typographical error, CBP said in a CSMS message. Subheadings 0304.81.10 and 0304.81.50 were removed from the list, but CBP mistakenly referred to "subheadings 0304.81.10 or 0304.84.50," in its Sept. 28 message.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer should put in place a process for exclusion from the 10 percent Section 301 tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports, which the Trump administration imposed last month (see 1809240015), a group of 169 members of Congress said in an Oct. 15 letter to the USTR. While the USTR allowed for exclusions to each of the first two lists of Section 301 tariffs, there's been no mention from the administration about a similar process for the latest list of tariffs. A wide range of industries asked the USTR for an exclusion process in a letter last month (see 1809270038).
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Oct. 9-12 in case they were missed.