USTR Extends Expiring Reinstated and Covid-related Exclusions until May 31, 2024; Comments Solicited on Further Extensions - Grunfeld, Desiderio, Lebowitz, Silverman & Klestadt LLP
On December 26, 2023, in an as of yet unpublished Federal Register notice, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (“USTR”) announced its intention to extend the existing China 301 exclusions (otherwise scheduled to expire on December 31, 2023) until May 31, 2024.
At issue are two sets of exclusions. The first set consists of the 77 currently applicable COVID-related exclusions. The second set consists of 352 exclusions that had been reinstated (and extended) by the USTR. Further information on the specific impacted exclusions can be found here.
In its notice, the USTR also announces the opening of a public docket, for the solicitation of comments on whether to further extend the above 429 exclusions. The public docket will be open from January 22, 2024 through February 21, 2024. USTR’s evaluation of whether to further extend a particular exclusion will take into account such factors as:
• the availability of products covered by the exclusion from sources outside of China;
• efforts undertaken to source the excluded product from the U.S. or third countries;
• why additional time is needed;
• on what timeline, if any, the sourcing of the product is likely to shift outside of China; and,
• whether or not extending the exclusion will impact U.S. interests, including the overall impact of the exclusion on the goal of obtaining the elimination of China’s acts, policies and practices covered in the Section 301 investigation.
While the above actions are being taken as part of the USTR’s China 301 four-year review, the Notice provides no insight as to the potential outcome of such review or the broader future of the China 301 tariffs.
Please do not hesitate to contact Arthur Bodek or any other of our attorneys with any questions or to discuss further.
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Federal Register Notices:
• Antidumping or Countervailing Duty Investigations, Orders, or Reviews: Multilayered Wood Flooring From the People's Republic of China: Preliminary Results of the Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, Preliminary Determination of No Shipments, and Rescission of Review, in Part; 2021-2022
• Notice of Scope Ruling Applications Filed in Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Proceedings
• Antidumping or Countervailing Duty Investigations, Orders, or Reviews: Agreement Suspending the Antidumping Duty Investigation on Sugar From Mexico: Preliminary Results of the 2021-2022 Administrative Review and Postponement of Final Results
• Agreement Suspending the Countervailing Duty Investigation on Sugar From Mexico; Preliminary Results of the 2022 Administrative Review
• Certain Oil Country Tubular Goods From the Republic of Korea: Notice of Court Decision Not in Harmony With the Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review; Notice of Amended Final Results
• Investigations; Determinations, Modifications, and Rulings, etc.: Certain Electronic Eyewear Products and Components Thereof; Notice of Institution of Investigation
• Antidumping or Countervailing Duty Investigations, Orders, or Reviews: Welded Line Pipe From the Republic of Korea: Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review and Partial Rescission of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review; 2021-2022
• Silicon Metal From Malaysia: Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review; 2021-2022
• Certain Stainless Steel Plate in Coils From Taiwan: Rescission of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review; 2022-2023
• Steel Concrete Reinforcing Bar From the Republic of Turkey: Final Results of the Antidumping Duty Administrative Review; 2021-2022
• Multilayered Wood Flooring From the People's Republic of China: Preliminary Results and Partial Rescission of Countervailing Duty Administrative Review; 2021
• Investigations; Determinations, Modifications, and Rulings, etc.: Softwood Lumber Products From Canada
• Cast Iron Soil Pipe Fittings From China
• Antidumping or Countervailing Duty Investigations, Orders, or Reviews: Multilayered Wood Flooring From the People's Republic of China: Preliminary Results of the Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, Preliminary Determination of No Shipments, and Rescission of Review, in Part; 2021-2022
• Citric Acid and Certain Citrate Salts From Belgium: Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review; 2021-2022
• Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Administrative Reviews
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Impacts From Threats to Shipping - Federal Maritime Commission
The Federal Maritime Commission is aware that ocean common carriers are adjusting vessel operations and deployments in response to threats to commercial shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden regions.
In doing so, carriers are announcing rate increases and/or instituting fees or surcharges ostensibly to recoup expenses associated with longer voyages and/or higher costs of insurance and security. However, these charges must meet strict legal requirements. Furthermore, competition among carriers must not be suspended and carriers and parties to vessel sharing agreements must continue to obey the Shipping Act, other U.S. competition laws, and all other applicable laws.
The Federal Maritime Commission is monitoring actions taken by ocean common carriers related to rates, fees, and surcharges to ensure their compliance with all statutory and regulatory requirements.
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Limitation of Duty-Free Imports of Apparel Articles Assembled in Haiti Under the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (CBERA), as Amended by the Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity Through Partnership Encouragement Act (HOPE) - International Trade Administration
AGENCY: International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce. ACTION: Notification of annual quantitative limit on imports of certain apparel from Haiti.
SUMMARY: CBERA, as amended, provides duty-free treatment for certain apparel articles imported directly from Haiti. One of the preferences is known as the “value-added” provision, which requires that apparel meet a minimum threshold percentage of value added in Haiti, the United States, and/or certain beneficiary countries. The provision is subject to a quantitative limitation, which is calculated as a percentage of total apparel imports into the United States for each 12-month period. For the period from December 20, 2023 through December 19, 2024, the quantity of imports eligible for preferential treatment under the value-added provision is 313,655,640 square meters equivalent.
DATES: The new limitations become applicable December 20, 2023.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kayla Johnson, International Trade Specialist, Office of Textiles and Apparel, U.S. Department of Commerce, (202) 482–2532.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Authority: Section 213A of the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (19 U.S.C. 2703a) (“CBERA”), as amended; and as implemented by Presidential Proc. No. 8114, 72 FR 13655 (March 22, 2007), and No. 8596, 75 FR 68153 (November 4, 2010).
Background: Section 213A(b)(1)(B) of CBERA, as amended (19 U.S.C. 2703a(b)(1)(B)), outlines the requirements for certain apparel articles imported directly from Haiti to qualify for duty-free treatment under a “value-added” provision. In order to qualify for duty-free treatment, apparel articles must be wholly assembled, or knit-to-shape, in Haiti from any combination of fabrics, fabric components, components knit-to-shape, and yarns, as long as the sum of the cost or value of materials produced in Haiti or one or more beneficiary countries, as described in CBERA, as amended, or any combination thereof, plus the direct costs of processing operations performed in Haiti or one or more beneficiary countries, as described in CBERA, as amended, or any combination thereof, is not less than an applicable percentage of the declared customs value of such apparel articles. Pursuant to CBERA, as amended, the applicable percentage for the period December 20, 2023 through December 19, 2024, is 60 percent.
For every twelve-month period following the effective date of CBERA, as amended, duty-free treatment under the value-added provision is subject to a quantitative limitation. CBERA, as amended, provides that the quantitative limitation will be recalculated for each subsequent 12-month period. Section 213A(b)(1)(C) of CBERA, as amended (19 U.S.C. 2703a(b)(1)(C)), requires that, for the twelve-month period beginning on December 20, 2023, the quantitative limitation for qualifying apparel imported from Haiti under the value-added provision will be an amount equivalent to 1.25 percent of the aggregate square meter equivalent of all apparel articles imported into the United States in the most recent 12-month period for which data are available. The aggregate square meters equivalent of all apparel articles
imported into the United States is derived from the set of Harmonized System lines listed in the Annex to the World Trade Organization Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (“ATC”), and the conversion factors for units of measure into square meter equivalents used by the United States in implementing the ATC. For purposes of this notice, the most recent 12-month period for which data are available as of December 20, 2023 is the 12-month period ending on October 31, 2023.
Therefore, for the one-year period beginning on December 20, 2023 and extending through December 19, 2024, the quantity of imports eligible for preferential treatment under the value-added provision is 313,655,640 square meters equivalent. Apparel articles entered in excess of these quantities will be subject to otherwise applicable tariffs.
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CBP Updates Seafood Import Restrictions - U.S. Customs & Border Protection
Effective immediately, CBP will require importer self-certification on seafood imports.
WASHINGTON – In support of the Executive Order and the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control determination, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will now require importers to provide self-certification that fish, seafood, and seafood containing products imported into the United States do not contain any inputs originating from the Russian Federation. This includes any seafood products or components from the Russian Federation that are processed in a third country before they are imported into the United States.
“CBP’s enforcement of this Executive Order ensures prohibited seafood products from the Russian Federation are prevented from entering American markets,” said CBP Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Commissioner Troy A. Miller. “Importers of seafood need to do their part by practicing due diligence over their supply chains to ensure their products do not contain components originating from the Russian Federation.”
The Executive Order prevents the importation of products into the United States which contain fish and seafood from the Russian Federation, including fish and seafood harvested in the waters under the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation or by Russia-flagged vessels, regardless of country-of-origin label.
The original Executive Order 14068, signed March 11, 2022, prevented seafood of Russian Federation origin from being imported into the United States. Seafood of Russian origin has been processed into other products in countries outside of the Russian Federation to bypass the restriction since that order went into effect. The new executive order prohibits the importation of these products into the United States.
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Issuance of a New Executive Order to Expand Russia Sanctions Authorities - Department of State
The United States, alongside our allies and partners, is committed to curtailing Russia’s use of the international financial system to advance its war in Ukraine. As a next step in this effort, President Biden today signed an Executive Order to expand the United States’ ability to target financial institutions located outside of Russia that facilitate transactions involving Russia’s military-industrial base. The new order also gives the United States the authority to ban importation to the United States of certain goods mined, produced, or harvested in Russia, even if substantially transformed in a third country.
Today’s action underscores the need for financial institutions around the world to ensure they are not facilitating activities that support Russia’s war effort and implement due diligence practices that protect them from being exploited by Russia’s procurement networks. The United States will hold accountable institutions that fail to implement appropriate measures.
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Statement from Ambassador Katherine Tai on Steel and Aluminum Tariff Rate Quota Extension - U.S. Trade Representative
WASHINGTON – United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai today released the following statement after President Biden signed two Presidential Proclamations to extend the European Union’s access to U.S. tariff rate quotas (TRQs) for steel and aluminum for two additional years. This extension, combined with the EU’s continued suspension on tariffs on U.S. goods, will give both sides additional time to negotiate a global arrangement that addresses carbon intensity and non-market capacity in the steel and aluminum industries.
“Under President Biden’s leadership, the United States is committed to defending workers, communities, and domestic industries from global non-market overcapacity and excessive carbon emissions. By extending the European Union’s steel and aluminum TRQs for an additional two years, we can continue negotiations on a forward-looking, high-standard arrangement, while providing predictability and stability to steel and aluminum workers and their families on both sides of the Atlantic.
“Maintaining viable steel and aluminum production at home is vital to U.S. national security, and our efforts with trading partners, including the EU, will continue to be guided by this tenet.”
The TRQ extension will take effect on January 1, 2024 and last until December 31, 2025. Last week, the European Union announced a continued suspension on tariffs on U.S. goods for a 15-month period.
Resources
A Proclamation on Adjusting Imports of Steel Into the United States
A Proclamation on Adjusting Imports of Aluminum Into the United States
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Port Receives $283 Million for 'America's Green Gateway' - Port of Long Beach
PIER B ON-DOCK RAIL SUPPORT FACILITY WILL MAKE CARGO MOVEMENT CLEANER, MORE EFFICIENT
The Port of Long Beach will receive $283 million from the federal government to assist in building “America’s Green Gateway,” a rail project which will enable one of the nation’s busiest seaports to move more cargo by trains, speeding deliveries across the entire national supply chain, easing congestion and lessening local environmental impacts.
The funding was awarded for the Port’s Pier B On-Dock Rail Support Facility through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Mega Grant Program. The $1.567 billion project is the centerpiece of the Port’s on-dock rail construction improvements.
Moving cargo by on-dock rail – directly moving containers to and from marine terminals by trains – is cleaner and more efficient, as it reduces truck traffic. When the new facility opens, no cargo trucks will visit. Instead, smaller train segments will be brought to the facility and joined together into a full-sized train.
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