Citing “substantial progress” in trade talks, President Trump has delayed the tariff increase for products subject to his Section 301 List# 3 tariffs. Here is a quick overview of the status of the three tariff lists. List #1 – subject to 25% tariff as of July 6, 2018 List #2 – subject to 25% tariff…
President Trump announced a temporary ceasefire in the ongoing trade dispute with China over this past weekend. The main outcome of the truce is that the U.S. will delay implementation of the List #3 tariff increase from 10% to 25% that was supposed to go into effect on January 1, 2019. The delay is supposed…
The USTR this afternoon published the finalized list for Trump’s 3rd round of tariffs on products from China. The original list had 6031 tariff subheadings. The final list contains roughly 5745 tariff subheadings. I highly recommend that importers take a close look at the tariff list to review which of their products may be impacted. Please note…
On July 10, 2018, the USTR published a 3rd list of products from China that are to be assessed tariffs. This group of products will be assessed tariffs at a rate of 10%. Note that this is different from the 25% rate to be assessed on list 1 and list 2 products. This 3rd list of products…
The USTR announced on Friday, July 6, 2018 the process for applying for exclusions from Trump’s first Section 301 Tariffs on products from China. The actual procedures for applying for the exclusion were later published in the Federal Register. Importers who have products on Trump’s first tariff list should make note of the following when considering whether they should apply for an…
President Trump has gone ahead and ordered the imposition of 25% duties on various products that are made in China. List #1 President Trump originally made his announcement of his intent to impose duties back on May 29, 2018. The original list of products to be subject to the duties was published by the USTR on April 6, 2018 and…
The Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) is set to expire on December 31, 2017. Importers who have enjoyed lower duty or duty free status for products under GSP need to prepare themselves. This is not the first time that Congress has failed to reauthorize GSP at expiration. Assuming we do not see any quick action by…
Upon importation of merchandise, an importer assumes certain responsibilities to the U.S. Customs: making the goods available for inspection; labeling and packaging requirements; making records of transactions available for inspection; paying estimated, or any additional duties when and where applicable. U.S. Customs is authorized to take bonds to assure the performance of the responsibilities by…
Every shipping vessel that enters and leaves the United States is required to submit shipping records that document its cargo. This information filed to Customs is called “Automated Manifest System”. Thanks to the Freedom of Information Act, most of this information is a matter of public record. Sites such as www.piers.com, www.zepol.com and www.importgenius.com retrieve…
Duties and taxes traditionally must be paid to US Customs within 10 working days of the Customs release date. Most importers are not aware of the Periodic Monthly Statement (PMS) program, which allows payment of duty and taxes up to 57 days from the release date. An ACH account in conjunction with PMS permits duty…