October 2019

The process for filing exclusion requests for products on the Section 301 List 4  begins today, October 31, 2019 and ends on January 31, 2020 The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (“USTR”) published the exclusion request procedures in the Federal Register on October 24, 2019.

Exclusion requests can be submitted via USTR’s portal…

U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer and certain officials in the administration have expressed optimism about the future of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada

On October 23, 2019, Senator Grassley, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, stated that he had a “growing worry” about the current progress of USMCA and claimed that the Democrats are stalling in the…

The authors previously reported that on or about February 27, 2019, the Ministry of Transport (“MOT”), PRC dropped formal application approval procedures and insurance (in the U.S., the China bond) requirements for all NVOCCs, including U.S. NVOCCs. While the MOT dropped the tedious application requirements and insurance (and bond) requirements for NVOCC registration, it still…

On October 24, 2019, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (“USTR”) granted exclusions for 83 specific HTS numbers which are currently subject to 25 percent Section 301 tariffs under List 3. The product exclusions apply retroactively effective September 24, 2018 until August 7, 2020. To see a full list of the excluded products,…

On October 23, 2019, Petitioners Bonney Forge Corporation and the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union (“USW”) filed a petition for the imposition of antidumping and countervailing duties on imports of Forged Steel Fittings from India and the imposition of antidumping duties on imports from the…

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (“USTR”) announced that starting on October 31, 2019, the exclusion process for Chinese imports subject to List 4 Section 301 tariffs of 15% will open and will conclude on January 31, 2020.

Details on the specifics of the application process are to be published in the Federal Register…

The U.S. is set to levy 25% tariffs on imports of specified European foods in response to the World Trade Organization’s (“WTO”) decision on October 2, 2019, that the European Union (E.U.) provided subsidies to Airbus at the expense of Boeing and the United States. These new tariffs will affect approximately $7.5 billion beginning today,…

On October 14, 2019, President Trump announced via Twitter his intention to authorize sanctions against Turkey and “any persons contributing to Turkey’s destabilizing actions in northeast Syria.” The announcement followed Turkey’s recent military operation against predominately Kurdish forces in northern Syria, which began following the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the region. Later in the day, President Trump issued an Executive Order (the “Syria-Turkey EO”) to formally implement those sanctions. Under the Syria-Turkey EO:

  • The U.S. Secretary of the Treasury is now authorized to impose blocking sanctions on any person that it determines to be: (i) responsible for or complicit in actions that threaten Syrian stability or abuse human rights, (ii) an official or agency of the Government of Turkey, or (iii) operating in sectors of the Turkish economy that the Secretary of Treasury might later decide to target with sanctions. The Syria-Turkey EO also authorizes the Treasury Secretary to impose blocking sanctions on any person (including non-U.S. persons) who provides material assistance, goods or services to or in support of any person sanctioned under the Syria-Turkey EO.
  • The U.S. Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to restrict or prohibit foreign financial institutions from opening or maintaining correspondent or payable through accounts in the U.S. if the Treasury Department determines that those foreign financial institutions have knowingly conducted or facilitated any significant financial transaction for or on behalf of any person who becomes subject to the above-described blocking sanctions.
  • The U.S. Secretary of State is now authorized to impose menu-based sanctions on any person the Secretary determines to have interfered with peacekeeping and restorative efforts in northern Syria. These authorized menu-based sanctions include (but are not limited to): blocking sanctions, denial of U.S. entry visas and financing-based sanctions.

The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) announced on October 11, 2019 the opening of its system for accepting petitions for tariff relief under the American Competitiveness Act of 2016 (commonly referred to as the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill or MTB).  The MTB allows U.S. importers to petition for duty-free or reduced-duty treatment of imported products that…

On October 7, 2019, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) announced that it would add twenty eight (28) Chinese entities consisting of companies, government offices, and security bureaus to the Entity List for engaging in or enabling activities contrary to U.S. foreign policy interests.  Similar to the actions taken against…