MEMO TO CLIENTS ISSUE 19-013 – October 23, 2019

USTR to Accept Exclusion Requests for China 301 Tranche 4 Late last Friday, The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced that they will open requests for exclusions to Tranche 4 (lists 4A and 4B) of the Section 301 tariffs beginning October 31. The process will be handled through USTR’s online portal, similar to the exclusion request process used …

MEMO TO CLIENTS ISSUE 19-012 – October 4, 2019

Two New Exclusion Lists Issued for Section 301 Duties On September 27, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced the latest round of approved product exclusions from China Section 301 List 1 and List 2 duties. Shortly after the announcement, on October 2, a Federal Register Notices (FRN) for these two lists of exclusions was published. The product exclusions for …

MEMO TO CLIENTS ISSUE 19-011 – August 27, 2019

Updates on the 5% Increase to China Section 301 Duties We have seen many comments on whether there will be a 5% increase on Section 301, raising the rate for Tranches 1, 2 and 3 from 25% to 30% and Tranches 4A to 4B from 10% to 15%. There is a written announcement on the website of the Office of …

MEMO TO CLIENTS ISSUE 19-010 – July 10, 2019

Proposed Section 301 Tranche 4 Still on Hold At the start of new negotiations with China, President Trump stated that he would not request the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to start any new Section 301 duties while China and the United States continue their negotiations. Since then there has been no formal announcement from either President …

MEMO TO CLIENTS ISSUE 19-009 – June 24, 2019

USTR Issues Instructions for Tranche 3 Exclusions The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) issued a Federal Register Notice (FRN) on June 24th with instructions on how to request exclusions from the China 301 duties for Tranche 3 (the 3rd list) of the HTSUS numbers subject to the additional duties. To help manage the submissions the USTR has set …

MEMO TO CLIENTS ISSUE 19-008 – April 22, 2019

USTR Releases New List of China 301 Exclusions The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has released a new list of additional classifications and descriptions for exclusion pertaining to the first list of HTS numbers subject to the China 301 duties at 25%. This new list has 14 HTS numbers with 21 exclusion descriptions. Each exclusion is tied to …

MEMO TO CLIENTS ISSUE 19-007 – April 12, 2019

President Issues Memorandum to Combat Counterfeit, Pirated Goods President Trump issued a memorandum that directs federal agencies to develop plans for battling against the dangers and negative effects of counterfeit and pirated goods. This includes imported goods that move through third-party intermediaries such as, carriers, forwarders, vendors, brokers and others parties throughout the import process. The memo has made the …

MEMO TO CLIENTS ISSUE 19-006 March 28, 2019

USTR Issues New List of Items Excluded from 301 Duties The office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued an additional list of Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) numbers and articles that are exempt from additional the 25% duty outlined in Section 301 List 1. This list includes 3 classifications that cover all products under those HTS numbers. It also …

MEMO TO CLIENTS ISSUE 19-005 – March 15, 2019

U.S. Terminates GSP Privilege for India and Turkey The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has announced that the United States will terminate Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) privileges for India and Turkey. The USTR explained that India had been subject to a compliance review for its trade barriers. India has failed to provide assurances that the criteria regarding …

MEMO TO CLIENTS ISSUE 19-004 – February 25, 2019

President Trump Announces Postponement of Section 301 Tariff Increase In a tweet on Sunday, February 24, President Trump said that he will again delay the Section 301 tariff increases, which were due to go into effect on March 2. This announcement pertains to the Tranche 3 list of HTS numbers that will be increasing from 10% to 25%. The postponement …

MEMO TO CLIENTS ISSUE 19-003 – February 7, 2019

More Information on Importing Composite Wood Products Full enforcement of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) toxic formaldehyde emissions standards under the EPA’s Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) will still go into effect on March 22, 2019. These standards apply to three types of composite wood products: Hardwood Plywood MDF (medium density fiberboard) Particleboard These woods all fall under these regulations …

MEMO TO CLIENTS ISSUE 19-002 – January 16, 2019

No Refund Checks Issued During Shutdown During the partial government shutdown, there will be no checks issued for refunds of any kind from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). All refund checks are issued by the U.S. Treasury and the Treasury department is closed during the government shutdown. CBP will continue to process protests and post summary corrections. Entry liquidations …

MEMO TO CLIENTS ISSUE 19-001 – January 4, 2019

CBP Requiring AED on All Postal Shipments from China U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is requiring advance electronic data on all mail shipments from China, Hong Kong and Macau as of January 1, 2019. Carriers, both air and ocean, will confirm with China Postal officials that the advance data has been filed before loading the mail on their conveyance. …

MEMO TO CLIENTS ISSUE 15-006 – April 1, 2015

Congestion May be Clearing up Sooner Than Expected At the TPM Conference in early March, many predictions were made that congestion delays would continue until the end of May. At the end of this past week we have heard from some terminal operators that the congestion is breaking up sooner than expected and we could see relief by the end …

MEMO TO CLIENTS ISSUE 15-005 – March 17, 2015

West Coast Ports Productivity continues to improve at all West Coast ports with the exception of Oakland, where some local issues continue to be periodically disruptive to the operations. There are under 15 container ships currently anchored, which is significantly less than a couple of weeks ago. We hope to see that number much closer to zero by our next …

MEMO TO CLIENTS ISSUE 15-004 – February 26, 2015

West Coast Ports Situation The ports along the West Coast are open and running just about full speed. Most terminals are running three shifts with a full staff and, according to the Journal of Commerce, productivity has returned to pre-negotiation levels. On the downside, it will take 2-3 months for the ports in Southern California to get back to normal, …

MEMO TO CLIENTS ISSUE 15-003 – February 12, 2015

Terminals Operating Schedule for West Coast Ports President’s Day Weekend According to the PMA, due to the increasing slowdowns caused by the ILWU, all West Coast port terminals will either be closed or running a very limited schedule. These changes will begin today and will extend thru Monday, February 16th. All our managers and traffic staff have the list of …

MEMO TO CLIENTS ISSUE 15-002 – January 28, 2015

ILWA/PMA Contract NegotiationAs was widely reported in the last two days, it appears that the union and employers have come to an agreement of some sort this past weekend. The topics discussed included the critical issue o chassis maintenance and repairs when conducted within the terminal(s). It has also been reported that the talks have picked up speed and could …

MEMO TO CLIENTS ISSUE 15-001 – January 13, 2015

ILWU/PMA Contract NegotiationsLast week both sides, The Pacific Maritim Association (PMA and The Internationa Longshore and Warehouse Union(ILWU), finally agreed to a mediator from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service Initially the ILWU refuse after the PMA had requested mediation but ultimately decided to move forward. Neither side will have to accept the decision of the mediator as it is …