NEW YORK -- A former WTO appellate body panelist criticized the administration's trade policies as chaotic and ineffective and former U.S. Trade Representative General Counsel Stephen Vaughn defended them, while a top WTO official tried to see the good in both arguments. They were all speaking on the state of world trade at an International Trade Symposium co-sponsored by Finastra and The Economist on Nov. 6.
Fitbit filed one request from the 15 percent Section 301 List 4A tariffs for its core fitness trackers and smartwatches, saying it deserves credit for shifting production away from China at the U.S. Trade Representative’s public docket. Fitbit “began to adjust its operations" almost immediately after the Trump administration proposed tariffs on smartwatches and fitness trackers sourced from China, the company said. It "anticipates being able to make substantial additional changes to its supply chain in the foreseeable future," it said. Fitbit will shift production to "outside China" starting in January for “effectively all of its trackers and smartwatches” to escape tariff exposure, it said last month (see 1910090053).
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative lauded the passage of amendments to a South Korean law regulating fishing. The announcement, issued Nov. 1, noted that the U.S. has opened consultations under the two countries' free trade agreement about whether Korea was doing enough to deter ships from its countries from violating conservation measures for Antarctic fish (see 1909200046).
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative estimated it will take staff and contractors about a year to get through 45,000 exclusion requests it expects between new requests for Lists 3 and 4 and requests to extend exclusions granted in December last year. The estimate is part of a notice in the Federal Register published Nov. 1.
President Donald Trump announced Oct. 31 that Cameroon will no longer qualify for the African Growth and Opportunity Act tariff preference program at the beginning of next year, because of extra-judicial killings, unlawful detention and torture by its military. Cameroon only exported $3.58 million in goods to the U.S. last year; it's unknown how much of that volume entered under AGOA, but about 48 percent of all sub-Saharan African imports are covered by AGOA. Overall, AGOA non-oil imports were $4.3 billion in 2017.
A variety of export subsidies, which allowed certain industries to avoid paying sales taxes, customs duties, or reduce income tax liability have been ruled illegal by a World Trade Organization panel. The ruling was released Oct. 31. India, unless it appeals the ruling, has 90, 120 or 180 days to stop the programs at issue.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative could be even tougher in its review of extension requests for Section 301 tariff exclusions (see 1910280059) than it had been previously, Sidley Austin lawyer Ted Murphy said in a blog post. "Any company that is relying on an approved product exclusion from the first batch of approvals should consider filing comments with the USTR," he said. "We expect that the bar for securing a renewal/extension may well be higher than it was to secure the original approval (i.e., the need to answer the question why you still need the exclusion a year later). Companies relying on other approved product exclusions (those not from the first batch) also should watch this process closely." Although the possibility of exclusions is welcome news, " it also means that the Administration believes that there is at least a meaningful chance that the U.S.-China trade war will carry on and that the Section 301 duties will remain in place well into 2020," he said.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative released the results of its 2019 Generalized System of Preferences product review. Changes, which take effect Nov. 1, include new GSP eligibility for orchids from Thailand and certain types of plywood from Indonesia. USTR denied petitions to remove polyethylene terephthalate from Pakistan from GSP eligibility, as well as a competitive needs limitation (CNL) waiver for stearic acid from Indonesia, which will now be ineligible for GSP. USTR also said that subheading 8702.10.21, for motor vehicles with diesel engine, to transport 16 or more persons, from North Macedonia will also be ineligible for GSP after exceeding CNL import limits.
Trade associations are circulating a letter to send to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer calling for a delay to the EU tariffs set to begin on Oct. 18 (see 1910020044). "These new duties will not be borne by the EU producer or manufacturer of those now-dutiable goods, but by the American importers which have already purchased the products and, very quickly, by American consumers," the letter says. "Nearly every product impacted by these tariffs transits to the United States from Europe by sea. In order to arrive in Washington State or Alaska before October 18, shipments of these products would have had to depart Europe in the first half of September or earlier." The USTR should revise its plans so that "all goods exported from Europe October 2 or earlier [will] be exempt from tariffs." The agency allowed for a "similar accommodation" in May for the third tranche of Section 301 tariffs (see 1905310070).
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has reversed its decision to exclude double-sided solar panels, primarily used for utility-scale projects. The notice says that the bifacial solar panels will be subject to a 25 percent safeguard tariff starting Oct. 29, after USTR "determined it will undermine the objectives of the safeguard measure."