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UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE (USTR) ANNOUNCES SECTION 301 FOURYEAR REVIEW & UPDATE ON SECTION 301 LITIGATION
Broker Compliance Corner
USTR ANNOUNCES SECTION 301 FOUR YEAR REVIEW & UPDATE ON SECTION 301LITIGATION
The USTR has issued a press release and Federal Register notice initiating a statutorily mandated four-year review of the Section 301 China tariffs, and the initial timelines for domestic industry comments supporting the Section 301 tariffs. See 87 FR 26797, dated May 5, 2022. The USTR four-year review will be in two phases: 1) accepting input from companies that support continuing the Section 301 tariffs; then 2) a separate, second phase to accept input from those who want the tariffs to end.
The timeframe for comments supporting the tariffs will be between May 7, 2022, and July 5, 2022, for the July 6, 2018, Action [List 1], and between June 24, 2022, and August 22, 2022 [List 2], for the August 23, 2018, action.” The USTR states that “to ensure comprehensive coverage of the review, USTR will consider the List 3 and List 4A modifications as applicable to both the July 6, 2018,action and August 23, 2018, action.” This indicates that the input being requested is comprehensive for all Section 301 tariff lists. The USTR will subsequently announce time frames and process for input from companies opposing the Section 301 Tariffs. If your company is interested in submitting comments to the USTR either supporting or opposing the Section 301 tariffs, please contact our firm by phone (949) 719-2712 ore-mail: michael.jackson@mscustoms.com for more information.
Note that this is a separate action taken by the USTR and not related to the Court of International Trade (CIT) challenge to the Section 301 tariffs as discussed in the last newsletter. Since our last update, on April 1, 2022, the CIT issued a positive initial Section 301 decision which remanded the matter to the USTR for additional action based on the CIT’s agreement with the importers that there were significant flaws in the manner in which the List3 and List 4 duty actions were formulated and justified and why the particular HTS numbers were targeted. This will be a significant undertaking by USTR, which must respond to the CIT’s remand order with additional detail by June 30, 2022.
- Michael Jackson, Esq.
www.mscustoms.com