On July 11, 2018, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) opened the docket for China 301 Product Exclusion Requests on regulations.gov. The Docket ID is USTR-2018-0025. The docket includes USTR’s ‘China 301 Product Exclusion Form’. In its July 11 Federal Register Notice describing the procedures to use for product exclusion requests, USTR states, “To assist in review of requests for exclusion, USTR has prepared a request form that will be posted on…

On July 5, 2018, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) hosted a teleconference to review Section 301 filings requirements, allow members of the trade community to seek clarifications and raise questions, and outline resources CBP has in place. The first set of Section 301 tariff increases is effective on July 6, 2018. This is the second round of tariff increases following the recent Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum. CBP is highly…

On June 21, 2018, the U.S. Department of Commerce published in the Federal Register an extended commenting schedule in the Section 232 investigation on U.S. imports of automobiles, including cars, SUVs, vans and light trucks, and automotive parts. Commerce is now extending that comment period by a week from the initial deadline. Interested parties are invited to submit comments, data, analyses, or other information pertinent to the investigation by June 29, 2018. Rebuttals to any…

On June 20, 2018, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced in the Federal Register that, beginning on July 6, 2018, an additional 25% duty will be imposed on products from China set out in Annex A of the notice. The USTR also released details on the public hearing and comments schedule regarding additional proposed tariffs on the list of products set out in Annex C of the notice. Yesterday’s notice confirmed the USTR’s proposed Section 301 actions on two…

On June 15, China’s State Council announced it would retaliate against new U.S. tariffs stemming from its Section 301 investigation of China’s unfair trade practices related to the “forced transfer of American technology and intellectual property”. The list of retaliatory tariffs expanded some 106 types of products China originally disclosed in April in response to the U.S. Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum products. China announced that the added tariffs would target $50 billion…

Media sources are reporting the Department of Commerce will not consider steel and aluminum product exclusions for countries subject to quotas. Only countries facing the tariffs will be considered for product exclusions. Currently, South Korea, Brazil, and Argentina have agreed to an absolute quota deal on certain steel products that are subject to the Section 232 tariffs. The steel quotas are separated into 54 subcategories for South Korea, Argentina, and Brazil. Argentina has already reached…

On March 19, Commerce published a Federal Register Notice which detailed the procedure to request product exclusions from the new imported steel and aluminum tariffs. In addition, the agency established two web pages and accompanying exclusion request forms, one each for steel and aluminum, explaining the process, how to file exclusion requests, the detailed information to be provided, and how to file exclusion objections. Per its new web pages and exclusion request forms, Commerce…