The Commerce Department issued Federal Register notices on its recently initiated antidumping duty investigations on forged steel fluid end blocks from Germany, India and Italy (A-428-847, A-533-893, A-475-840), as well as its new countervailing duty investigations on forged steel fluid end blocks from Germany, India, Italy and China (C-475-848, C-533-894, C-475-841, C-570-116).
Section 301 (too broad)
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Jan. 6-12:
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer told lawmakers from Georgia that he will be looking to see if there are remedies for combating “any trade distorting policies that may be contributing to unfair pricing in the U.S. market” for seasonal and perishable products, examining the Trade Act of 1974 and “other trade laws.” The Trade Act of 1974, which includes the recently used sections 201 and 301, gives the president wide leeway to deny preferential tariff treatment to any product, and to add an additional duty of up to 50 percent on any product for significant drug producing or drug transit countries. It also authorizes safeguards, which can be up to 50 percent duties on a surge of imports that is damaging domestic industry.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative posted the transcripts from the hearing on Section 301 tariffs on France (see 2001060040) split over Jan. 7 and Jan. 8.
The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated with 43 rulings on Jan. 9. The following headquarters rulings not involving carriers were modified on Jan. 9, according to CBP:
Nearly seven in every 10 TV sets imported to the U.S. in November originated in Mexico, according to new Census Bureau import data accessed on Jan. 10 through the International Trade Commission’s DataWeb tool. November was the third full month that 15 percent List 4A Section 301 tariffs were in force on finished TV sets from China, causing profound shifts in TV-sourcing trends. The U.S. imported 3.66 million TVs from all countries in November, a 22.3 percent decline sequentially and down 40.8 percent from November 2018, DataWeb said. Unit imports for 2019's 11 months declined 4.5 percent year on year to 37.43 million sets.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative created a detailed guidance for how to go about creating exclusions through carve-outs from the Section 301 tariff headings. The guide lays out the considerations for USTR when “drafting” such carve-outs, which can be submitted to the International Trade Commission and CBP “for approval and comments.” ProPublica posted a copy of the document, which was likely attained through a Freedom of Information Act request. The document was mentioned in a broader ProPublica story on tariff exclusions.
CBP has assessed about $53 billion in duties under the major trade remedies started during the Trump administration as of Jan. 8, according to CBP's trade statistics page. That includes $42.8 billion in duties from the Section 301 tariffs on goods from China, and $177.8 billion in Section 301 tariffs on goods from the EU. CBP also has assessed about $6.6 billion under the Section 232 tariffs on steel and $1.9 billion under tariffs on aluminum. The Section 201 trade remedies on washing machines, washing machine parts and solar cells account for $1.4 billion in assessed tariffs. CBP's statistics account for refunds provided to importers, an agency spokesperson said.
U.S. smartphone importers abruptly shifted more sourcing toward Vietnam and less from China in November, the last full month before the scheduled imposition of 15 percent List 4B Section 301 tariffs on Chinese handsets, according to newly released Census Bureau data accessed Jan. 9 through the International Trade Commission’s DataWeb tool. The Trump administration suspended the List 4B tariffs Dec. 13, less than 48 hours before they were to take effect, after reaching a phase one trade deal with China.
The panel deciding which French products should face Section 301 tariffs was intrigued by a point made by the Cheese Importers Association of America -- who could pay more on 21 Harmonized Tariff Schedule headings if all the proposed tariffs are included.