Retaliatory Tariff Resources from the US Department of Commerce

posted by Tina Weyant

Below is a listing of useful website links from the US Department of Commerce regarding foreign retaliatory actions to the U.S. Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs as well as China’s responses to U.S. Section 301 tariffs.

General Information about Foreign Tariff Retaliations:
Details regarding additional duty rates and their effective dates and links to each country's official announcements are included for the following countries:

• Canada
• China
• EU
• India
• Japan
• Mexico
• Russia
• Turkey

https://www.trade.gov/mas/ian/tradedisputes-enforcement/retaliations/tg_ian_002094.asp#P4_161

Retaliation Product Matrix for Section 232:

This matrix lists the U.S. goods subject to foreign retaliatory tariffs in response to the United States’ Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum imports into the United States.  It includes direct links for U.S. businesses to find additional detail regarding the scope of the foreign measures. Download the matrix here.

Section 232 Investigations Overview and Documents:
A great starting place is the website for Section 232 Investigations, where links for investigations, proclamations and dockets can be found via the steel and the aluminum page.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection website also has a useful information page regarding the Section 232 Tariffs, and a helpful list of FAQs.

Finding Objections, Rebuttals, and Surrebuttals for Section 232 Product Exclusion Requests:
The steel and aluminum rebuttal and surrebuttal files are uploaded daily to the Section 232 Investigations website as an Excel workbook. The files catalog each objection, rebuttal, and surrebuttal Identification Number associated with each Exclusion Request.  Instructional guides as well as a video are available.

Contact Points for Questions Related to Section 232 Tariffs:
- Bureau of Industry and Security, U.S. Department of Commerce: Additional $16 Billion Trade Action:

• Steel: (202) 482-5642, Steel232@bis.doc.gov
• Aluminum: (202) 482-4757, Aluminum232@bis.doc.gov

- U.S. Customs and Border Protection:

• traderemedy@cbp.dhs.gov 

Section 301 Investigations:
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative webpage regarding the Section 301 investigation  provides links to the investigation documents, hearing and regulations.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection site includes a page dedicated to the Section 301 Trade Remedies.  A downloadable Section 301 HTSUS Reference guide is available. This page also includes a link to FAQs

Section 301 Exclusion Process:
Here is a link to the Section 301 exclusion process, and the Section 301 Hotline: (202) 395-5725.
The exclusion request forms, along with detailed instructions as well as the list of products for the initial $34 Billion Trade Action and the additional $16 Billion Trade Action can be found on this page.

Contact Points for Questions Related to Section 301 Tariffs:
-  U.S. Trade Representative,  Section 301 Hotline: (202) 395-5725
-  U.S. Customs and Border Protection: traderemedy@cbp.dhs.gov

Duty Drawback for Section 232 and Section 301:

• No drawback shall be available with respect to the Section 232 duties imposed on any aluminum or steel article
• Section 301 duties are eligible for duty drawback

Contact your local US Commercial Service office for more information.

US Commercial Service - Philadelphia
One Penn Center
1617 John F. Kennedy Blvd. Suite 1580
Philadelphia, PA 19103-1815
Office.Philadelphia@trade.gov
Telephone: (215) 597-6101
Fax: (215) 597-6123
Philadelphia Website

Bringing the World to PA 2018

Posted by Katrina Chan

The World Trade Center Harrisburg  in conjunction with the Pennsylvania’s Department of Community and Economic Development hosted the 19th annual Bringing the World to PA. Participants showed up as early as 8:30AM on Thursday, September 13, 2018 for their appointments with the Trade Representatives.

Appointments with PA’s Trade Offices:

PA’s authorized trade representatives had the opportunity to meet with local companies that represent a wide range of industries that manufacture unique products. Throughout the day, there were meetings held at the Cork Factory Hotel with companies to discuss international market opportunity to fit their respective businesses. 






Pennsylvania's Authorized Trade Representatives that were present include:

Australia/New Zealand....Ms. Angela Foley

Canada.......................Mr. Chris Leslie

Central/Eastern Europe….Ms. Pavlina Becvarova

China.........................Ms. Maggie Chin

Germany.....................Ms. Franziska Wegerich

India..........................Ms. Supriya Kanetkar & Dr Gunaseel Jawahar

Korea.........................Mr. Ken Yang & Mr. Steve Shin

Mexico ...................... Mr. Efren Flores

Middle East Region.........Mr. Seth Vogelman

Netherlands/Belgium......Mr. Peter Sanders

Saudi Arabia...............  Mr. Wiam Alwazir

Singapore................... Ms. May Abrera & Ms. Ili Salsabila

Taiwan ..................... Ms. Irene Tsai

United Arab Emirate...... Ms. Arshi Shaikh

United Kingdom............ Mr. Cristopher Carnaghan

Lunch Reception:
Lunch was served at the Cork Factory Hotel, with various representatives from providers such as Fulton Financial, FTZ 147, and UPS coming on stage to present about the opportunities and services available for companies. After lunch and desert was a short networking session before the afternoon meetings commenced.

BTW2PA ended with a cocktail reception that was generously sponsored by Fulton Financial Corporation. Companies were able to network and interact with our Sponsors and Trade Representatives in an informal setting.

It was a great day, and we look foward to seeing you next year!

Special Thank You to our Sponsors
The World Trade Center would like to thank its sponsors and partners for their kind support for the Bringing the world to PA Annual Event. 

Our Silver Level Sponsors:
UPS

Our Bronze Level Sponsors:
FTZ 147
Fulton Financial Cooperation 

Strategic Partners:
MANTEC
PA's Office of International Business Development

Our annual event is yet again another success because of their generosity.

2018 Impact of Trade Key Findings

Posted by Brynne Godfrey, Intern


During my summer Statistical Analysis and Economic Impact internship with the World Trade Center Harrisburg, I was in charge of compiling the Impact of Trade: An Analysis of Goods and Services Exported 2016 report. Export data by Pennsylvania county was provided by the Brookings institution in the form of nearly 123,000 NAICS codes. This dataset was unlike most due to its comprehensive nature; not only did it include merchandise export data, but data on services was incorporated as well. I was in charge of first cleaning the dataset and then began to analyze the statistics, constructing graphs and tables in order to examine the impact of trade in the eight counties within the Southcentral Pennsylvania region and compare them to the county as a whole. Analysis on the Southcentral region compared to the other regions and the entire state of Pennsylvania was also completed.

Analysis from this report is based on the years 2003-2016. This time period accounts for post-recession economic growth and a falling unemployment rate. Exporting and global trade played a significant role during this time period to help the economy prosper again as more and more companies continued to enter the global market. This report focuses on the impact of exports and how it bears on the economic well-being of Pennsylvania, specifically in the Southcentral region. 

Key Findings

Many significant findings could be pulled from the data provided by the Brookings Institution. Some key findings were:

• From 2003 to 2016, the Southcentral Pennsylvania region experienced an overall real export increase of 50.72%.
• Southcentral PA is ranked second in terms of exported manufactured goods, exporting only about $600 million less than the Southeast region and exceeding the Southwest region by over $2.0 billion.
• The Southcentral region is ranked third in terms of real exports from all combined industries.
• Exports supported 69,344 jobs in the Southcentral region in 2016.

The Southcentral region of Pennsylvania plays a key role in the export industry, contributing to the economic growth that took place from 2003-2016.

Event Recap: 19th Annual International Trade Conference

posted by Katrina Chan

This year marks the WTC Harrisburg's 19th Annual International Trade Conference, held at Reading, PA. The conference theme was "Celebrating Export Excellence in Berks County!", to recognize and showcase successful local exporters from across the region.

Every year, the WTC Harrisburg holds the International Trade Conference, because we recognize the importance for local exporters to establish the right connections, have easy access to available resources, and to have a clear understanding of the current state of our economy in relation to how that affects different industries.

The event started at 8.30am, with a total of 60 attendees. The morning session, "Agony or Ecstasy", was presented by Dave Hanson of Fulton Financial Advisors who gave a lively overview of the state of our global economy and how that ties to the US economy.

The four breakout sessions that followed the morning keynote presentation were:

• Effective Strategies for Global Online Marketing
• Global Trends in Managing Trade Compliance Amid Today’s Changing Trade Policies
• GDPR: Are You Ready for the Most Important Change in Data Privacy Regulation in 20 Years?
• Fraud Detection and Prevention

The luncheon presentation that followed spotlighted 3 successful exporters from Berks county: Adhezion Biomedical, HemaPrep and Radius. Participants were able to ask the panelists questions and gain insight from the experience of these three companies.

The conference ended with a networking reception with an assortment of desserts.

We would like to thank the following:

Silver Sponsor:
UPS

Bronze Sponsors:
Fulton Financial
FTZ 147

Strategic Partners:
MANTEC
Greater Reading Chamber of Alliance
SBA
PA Department of Community and Economic Development


Thank you to our exhibitors and attendees! We hope to see you next year!

Netherlands Day in Harrisburg

posted by Katrina Chan

Left to right: Allan Kline, President of Klinge Corporation and WTC Board Member,
Consul General Dolph Hogewoning and Amabassador Henne Schuwer

The World Trade Center Harrisburg and Stevens & Lee/Griffin International, LLC collaborated in organizing a morning roundtable to host Ambassador Henne Schuwer, Consul General Dolph Hogewoning and his delegation from the Netherlands. The event was held on April 30, 2018, as part of a celebration of King’s Day and the proclamation of “Netherlands Day in PA”.

The Netherlands has a strong trade presence in Pennsylvania. Ambassador Schuwer and his delegation from the Netherlands came to Harrisburg to further strengthen that longstanding relationship and discuss the strong economic bond that exists between Netherlands and PA.

The day started at 10am with a business and economic roundtable discussion with local companies from Central Pennsylvania that conduct business in the Netherlands.  This was a good opportunity for companies to meet with the Dutch Ambassador and his senior staff and discuss business opportunities in the Netherlands.

Lt. Gov. Mike Stack hosted the afternoon lunch reception for the delegation in his Capitol office. The reception was followed by a news conference where Lt. Gov. Mike Stack presented Ambassador Henne Schuwer with a gift and an official proclamation that marks April 30th as "King's Day in Pennsylvania".

What You Need to Know About the New Steel and Aluminum Tariffs

posted by Tina Weyant

Yesterday, President Trump signed a Presidential Proclamation regarding the imports of steel, and a second Proclamation regarding the imports of aluminum.  

A 25% additional duty on steel and a 10% additional duty on aluminum products will become effective on March 23, 2018 for all countries, except Mexico and Canada for now.

Steel Articles
Steel articles are defined with reference to the following U.S. Harmonized Tariff Schedule's  6-digit subheadings:

• 7206.10 through 7216.50 
• 7216.99 through 7301.10 
• 7302.10 
• 7302.40 through 7302.90 
• 7304.10 through 7306.90 

Aluminum Articles
Aluminum articles are defined as follows:

• HTS 7601 - unwrought aluminum 
• HTS 7604  - aluminum bars, rods, and profiles
• HTS 7605 - aluminum wire
• HTS 7606 and 7607 - flat rolled aluminum products, including plate, sheet, strip, and foil
• HTS 7608 and 7609 - aluminum tubes and pipes and tube and pipe fitting 
• HTS 7616.99.51.60 and 7616.99.51.70 -  aluminum castings and forgings 

These rules include any subsequent revisions to the HTS classifications

Possible Product Exclusions via a Petition Process:

There will be a petition-based, product exclusion process run by the Department of Commerce, based on the following standard of whether the article is: 

• produced in the United States "in a sufficient and reasonably available amount or of a satisfactory quality"  or 
• subject to specific national security considerations

Petitions need to be filed by a directly affected party located in the United States.  The US Dept. of Commerce will issue formal procedures for this process by March 18th.

Possible Country Exclusions:

Imports from Canada and Mexico are exempted from the additional duty for now.  Imports from countries with which the United States has a security relationship are encouraged to discuss with the Administration alternative ways to address the threatened impairment of the national security presented by imports from their country.

Thank you Ted Murphy, of Baker McKenzie 

for background details regarding this article

We would like to know how the new tariffs affect the ability of your company to compete globally.

Please take the survey here 

Recap: 4th Annual State of the Ports Address

posted by Katrina Chan

WTC Harrisburg successfully hosted its Annual State of the Ports Address on 22 February at the Sheraton Harrisburg-Hershey Hotel. 

The State of the Ports Address was the perfect opportunity for companies who wanted to expand internationally to get to know their local port authorities and to network with different business who also attended the event.

This year's speakers were Marie Byers, Dominic O'Brien and Scott Merlo from Harrisburg International Airport, Phila Port, Customs and Border Protection. 

Our speakers presented very informative, useful updates about the Philadelphia port as well as additional knowledge to makes it easier for local companies to understand the importing and exporting process. Attendees found the event to be very insightful and useful, especially companies within the manufacturing business who plan on expanding their business internationally. 

We would like to thank our sponsors and partners:

Gold:

Foreign-Trade Zone 147

Silver:

Fulton International Group

Harrisburg International Airport

UPS

Bronze:

Phila Port

Partners:

MANTEC

Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development

This event would not have been successful without their support and generosity!

2017 Recap: Annual Holiday Luncheon and Reception

Posted by Katrina Chan

Annual 21st Holiday Luncheon

The World Trade Center Harrisburg team hosted the annual holiday luncheon on December 1st at the Out Door Country Club, York, PA for board members, members and sponsors. The luncheon started with an opening reception and light refreshments were served.

Tina Weyant presented the opening speech, highlighting key events that happened in 2017 - one big update being the move from York to the new Harrisburg World Trade Center Building.

This luncheon marked Jan Kreidler's last event as an employee of the WTC. Jan has been diligently working at the World Trade for the past 15 years. All of us at the World Trade Center will miss her, but we wish her all the best with retirement.

Jan's Appreciation

For this year's holiday luncheon, intern Katrina Chan delivered a lively and informative presentation about holiday customs and gift giving traditions in Malaysia.

For more information about Malaysia, the link to her presentation is here (including video links).

The luncheon ended with a short networking session accompanied with an assortment of desserts.

We would like to thank attendees and members joining us in celebrating another successful year.

We would also like to thank the following event sponsors:

Gold
Central Pennsylvania Foreign Trade Zone

Silver
Fulton International Group
Harrisburg Academy
Mantec
Stambaugh Ness
UPS
York County Economic Alliance

This event was made possible because of their generosity!