The Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (MTB) process is administered by the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC). Under the MTB process, U.S. importers may petition for duty-free or reduced-duty treatment of certain imported products by submitting an MTB petition to the ITC. The ITC has indicated that it will open its portal and begin accepting MTB petitions at 8:45am on October 11, 2019. In general, for an MTB petition to be successful, there must not be any domestic…

According to a Federal Register Notice published on September 3, 2019, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) proposes to increase additional duties from 25 percent to 30 percent on the products from China currently subject to Section 301 tariff actions first taken in June, August, and September 2018, with an aggregate annual trade value of approximately $250 billion (Lists 1-3). The USTR invites public comment on the proposed modification. There will be no…

On August 27, 2019, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) published a final rule regarding the procedures for the preparation and filing of Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (MTB) petitions and public comments. Under the MTB process, U.S. importers may petition for duty-free or reduced-duty treatment of certain imported products by submitting an MTB petition to the ITC. Typically, importers request duty relief for manufacturing raw material inputs such as chemicals, electronic goods, and proprietary parts that…

On Friday, August 23, 2019, President Trump indicated in a series of tweets that tariffs on the $250 billion of imports already in place would be raised to 30% from 25% on October 1.  President Trump also said the remaining $300 billion of imports set to go into effect on September 1 would be taxed at 15% ad valorem, rather than 10% ad valorem.…