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

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 

Permanent Normal Trade Relations With Russia

Posted by Tina

The United States currently does not provide permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) to Russia, because of the Jackson-Vanik amendment to the Trade Act of 1974.  The Jackson-Vanik amendment was created during the cold war to put pressure on the Soviet Union by linking free trade to human rights, including the freedom of emigration. 

Under WTO rules, every WTO member must grant all other members Permanent Normal Trade Relations, also known as Most-Favored Nation status. With Russia's upcoming accession to the WTO, the United States will not be in compliance with this rule unless Congress acts soon.

As a member of the WTO, Russia will be required to decrease its tariffs and remove barriers to imports of goods and services. Russia will also be required to comply with WTO requirements regarding transparency in setting rules and IPR protection. According to US Trade Representative Kirk: "If the United States cannot apply the WTO Agreement to Russia by the time Russia becomes a WTO Member, U.S. businesses, farmers, ranchers, manufacturers, creators, and workers will be at a distinct disadvantage with our global competitors." For more details on this issue, visit the U.S. Chamber's "PNTR Primer" website and the USTR website.