The U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) will not stay its order (Ct. No. 19-00009) instructing U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to refund importers’ Section 232 tariffs on steel from Turkey. A three-judge panel denied the government’s motion to stay while also denying the Plaintiffs’ motion to enforce judgement. The CIT found that the
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced the rescission of Section 232 tariffs on Canadian aluminum, retroactive to September 1, 2020. The 10% tariff on non-alloyed, unwrought aluminum under subheading 7601.10 from Canada was announced on August 6, 2020 and went into effect on August 16, 2020. Following the USTR’s announcement of
The World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement body ruled that the tariffs imposed by the U.S. on imports from China are inconsistent with the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), and recommended that the U.S. “bring its measures into conformity” with its obligations under the GATT. Beginning in 2018, at the direction of President Trump, the U.S. imposed tariffs on $400 billion worth of imports from China over 4 different lists or tranches. The U.S. and China negotiated a “phase one” trade deal earlier this year, however, most of the tariffs were still left in place.
The WTO panel concluded that the U.S. failed to demonstrate that the tariff measures are justified under Article XX(a) of the GATT 1994. As a result, the panel found the U.S. tariff measures to be inconsistent with Articles I:1, II:1(a) and II:1(b) of GATT 1994. In other words, the WTO found that the U.S. tariffs on China were discriminatory and excessive, and the U.S. failed to present justification for an exemption that could have legally allowed for the tariffs.
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s (Commerce) Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis System (SIMA) will be modified effective October 13, 2020 to require that the country where the steel was “melted and poured” to be identified in the license application. Other changes in the final rule published on September 11, 2020, include adding coverage for eight
On September 10, 2020, HMTX Industries LLC, along with Halstead New England Corporation, and Metroflor Corporation (importers of vinyl tile) filed a complaint (Ct. No. 20-00177) at the Court of International Trade (CIT) challenging both the substantive and procedural processes followed by the United States Trade Representative (USTR) when instituting Section 301 Tariffs on imports
In Husch Blackwell’s August 2020 Trade Law Newsletter, you’ll learn about the following updates in international trade and supply chain law:
The U.S. Department of Commerce (“Commerce”) announced in a Federal Register notice that it is proposing significant changes to its antidumping and countervailing duty regulations. The last time such sweeping changes were undertaken were in 1997 after the WTO went into effect. Commerce is requesting comments on the proposed changes by September 14, 2020.
Among the most significant changes outlined in Commerce’s proposal are the changes to its conduct of scope proceedings, which determine whether a certain product is subject to the scope of an AD or CVD order; and to circumvention proceedings where importers are alleged to be avoiding duties, often by using components from the subject country to assemble the product in another country not subject to the relevant AD/CVD order. Currently, both types of proceedings are governed by the same set of regulations in 19 C.F.R. §351.225. Commerce’s proposal would separate the two proceedings into unique regulatory frameworks.
On August 6, 2020, the White House issued two (2) Executive Orders (“EO”) banning the popular China-based social media app TikTok and the messaging and electronic payments app WeChat. Both orders are scheduled to take effect in 45 days (approximately September 21, 2020). While a U.S. ban on TikTok, owned by Beijing-based ByteDance Ltd., had been anticipated, especially after India banned the app earlier this year, the EO on Tencent Holding Ltd.’s (“Tencent”) WeChat was not anticipated and has significant potential business ramifications.
On August 6, 2020, the White House issued a proclamation stating that the U.S. would re-impose 10% tariffs on imports of non-alloyed unwrought aluminum under subheading 7601.10 from Canada starting August 16, 2020. The subject products make up the majority of U.S. aluminum imports from Canada.
President Donald Trump explained that the re-imposition of tariffs
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (“USTR”) announced today that it was extending the duty exemptions for only 266 of the 1,035 products on List 3 of the Section 301 tariffs that were scheduled to expire on August 7, 2020. The 266 individual product line extensions will now expire on December 31, 2020. The