USTR Grants Exclusion Extensions to China 301 List 4 The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) issued a Federal Register Notice (FRN) on September 2, 2020 granting 87 extensions to exclusions from China 301 duties, for certain items on List 4. Fourteen (14) of the extensions were for specific HTSUS numbers with no specific description to be met and there were 73 exclusion extensions with specific descriptions tied to an HTSUS number. These extensions apply as of September 1, but the programing of ACE for ABI entries by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is not completed yet. The programing usually takes between 5 and 7 days for entries to be accepted electronically with the new extensions. Also, be aware that the extensions are only good up until December 31. The FRN with the list of extended numbers and descriptions can be found on the Federal Register website.
President Trump Reduces Brazilian Steel Quota by 10% Due to changes in the import of steel into the United States and the effect on U.S. production, President Trump issued an executive order that reduces the quantitative quota on steel from Brazil to not be subject to additional Section 232 duties by 10%. A copy of the Federal Register Notice with the details on the change can be found by clicking here.
ATA Files Lawsuit Against Ocean Carriers The American Truckers Association (ATA) has filed a suit before the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) against the Ocean Carriers Equipment Management Association (OCEMA) calling for the improvement of the supply of chassis for the move of containers from the terminals. There are several restrictions in the chassis supply chain that caused confusion, often referred to as “box rules”. These are exclusive arrangements between an ocean carrier and a chassis company/provider which require that carrier’s containers be carried only on that company/provider’s chassis (not on the trucker or beneficial cargo owner’s own chassis, nor on any chassis owned by another provider, even if a favored company chassis is unavailable, and other chassis are). This lack of choice is the result of the current chassis shortage and cost problems. It also contributes to congestion at the ports. The language on the suit can be found by clicking here.