Trade Policy

Investigations

  • Glycine from India: On May 1, 2019, Commerce released its final determinations for both the Antidumping Duty and Countervailing Duty Investigation.
  • Glycine from the People’s Republic of China: On May 1, 2019, Commerce released its final affirmative Countervailing Duty determination.
  • Glycine from Japan: On May 1, 2019, Commerce issued its final Antidumping Duty determination.
  • Large Diameter Welded Pipe: On May 2, 2019, Commerce issued an amended final affirmative antidumping determination and antidumping duty order to the following countries: Greece
  • Turkey
  • Republic of Korea
  • Certain Quartz Surface Products from the People’s Republic of China: On May 23, 2019, Commerce released both the final affirmative Countervailing Duty and final affirmative Antidumping Duty determinations.

USTR Publishes Notice on Increase in Section 301 List 3 Tariff Rate

On May 8, 2019, USTR released its federal register notice on the tariff increase for the third tranche (List 3) Section 301 tariffs on China. The duty rate on the estimated $200 billion worth of Chinese products will increase from 10% to 25% effective 12:01am ET on Friday, May 10, 2019. The notice also announces that an exclusion process will be instituted for these products in a separate notice.

The rate increase to 25% means that entries of goods

  1. entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on May 10, 2019, and
  2. exported to the United States on or after May 10, 2019 will now be subject to an additional tariff of 25%. Entries must be subject to both qualifiers-meaning that if a shipment has been exported prior to May 10, 2019 it will still be subject to the 10% duty rate.  However, if the shipment is exported after 12:01am ET on May 10 the 25% duty rate will apply. To see our full post, click here.

Late Friday, May 31, 2019, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (“USTR”) announced that they would extend the time frame for the application of increased tariffs on shipments of goods exported from China prior to May 10, 2019.   The increase from 10% to 25% in duties was announced on May 8th and was set to be applicable on all imports starting on June 1, 2019.   The USTR has now revised its earlier announcement and has stated that shipments must be entered before midnight on June 15, 2019 in order to remain subject to the 10% duty rate.  Any entries after midnight on June 15, 2019 will be subject to the increased rate of 25% announced on May 8, 2019.

In a sudden announcement after 8pm on Friday May 31, 2019, the President made the anticipated decision that India was to be removed from the Generalized System of Preferences (“GSP”), effective June 5, 2019.  The statement issued by the White House claims that the President had “determined that India has not assured the United States that India will provide equitable and reasonable access to its markets.” The end of GSP eligibility and removal of India’s developing country status comes after holding that status for approximately 30 years and is a deepening indication of the U.S.’s increased protectionist stance in the global trading environment.  Last month the U.S. ended Turkey’s preferential status.

Key Facts:

  • President Trump is imposing tariffs on all imported goods from Mexico beginning on June 10, 2019
  • The tariff rate will begin at 5% and increase to 10% on July 1, 15% on August 1, 20% on September 1, and 25% on October 1, 2019.
  • The tariffs will remain at 25% until “Mexico substantially stops the illegal inflow of aliens coming through its territory”

On May 30, 2019, President Trump announced that he would impose tariffs on all imported goods from Mexico beginning on June 10, 2019 at a 5% duty rate and increasing an additional 5% each month for three months.

On Tuesday, May 21, 2019, USTR and the Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) published in the Federal Register a request for comments on the Section 301 exclusion process for Tranche 3 tariffs which were increased from 10% to 25% on May 10, 2019. The notice also included a draft exclusion request form for the List 3 products. The draft exclusion request form includes more data requirements on U.S. and third-party sourcing, overall gross revenue, and on whether the company has applied for and/or received previous exclusion requests.

On May 17, 2019, after numerous rounds of negotiations, the United States, Canada, and Mexico issued formal statements on lifting duties on Section 232 steel and aluminum products. While Canada and the U.S. explicitly stated that their respective tariffs would be lifted within the next two days, Mexico has yet to announce how quickly their retaliatory tariffs would end.