The process for importers to get product exclusions from Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum items is too slow, and too burdensome, according to 39 members of the House of Representatives, from both parties, who have suggestions for how to change it. Their letter, sent May 7 to the Department of Commerce, says that retroactive relief from tariffs should date back to the date of submission, not the date of posting, unless the submission was not initially complete. In that case, the lawmakers say, the refund should be from the date the submission was complete, rather than the date it was publicly posted.
The Court of International Trade on May 3 dismissed a steel importer’s challenge of Section 232 tariffs on iron and steel products. Severstal Export Miami, its affiliate Severstal Export GmbH, and the U.S. government had agreed to the dismissal, after CIT in April denied Severstal’s motion for a preliminary injunction to stop imposition of the 25 percent tariff on Severstal’s imports. Severstal agreed to dismissal with prejudice, so it won’t be able to bring its claims again at CIT. The court had told Severstal that the case would be unlikely to succeed, noting that Section 232 gives the president the discretion to impose Section 232 tariffs even for economic threats to national security (see 1804060028).
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The chairman and ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee told Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross that his replies on how the department weighed the issues before recommending Section 232 tariffs were incomplete -- and said that if his next letter isn't an improvement, the committee may have to consider compelling his testimony. The letter, sent May 3, gave Ross two weeks to reply. "Clearly, these tariffs will have a much more far-reaching effect on downstream industries and consumer prices than explained in your response," Senators Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., wrote. They said Ross failed to provide detailed cost-benefit analyses on the tariffs' effects, or analyses of prior tariffs' effects on downstream industries or prices. They also said he declined to say how the agency is going to measure success of the tariffs.
President Donald Trump's proclamations on the latest extensions to country exemptions on the Section 232 tariffs (see 1804300064) will be published in the Federal Register on May 7. The proclamations on steel and on aluminum say that while Canada, Mexico and the European Union face a June 1 deadline to agree to "satisfactory alternative means" to ameliorate the national security threat their imports cause, Australia, Brazil and Argentina do not have an expiration date on their exemptions. The president said since those countries have reached agreements in principle, he didn't think a deadline was necessary. But if those agreements are not finalized promptly, he reserves the right to impose tariffs.
RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. -- The elimination of drawback availability on entries subject to Section 232 tariffs in most the recent presidential proclamations (see 1804300064) applies retroactively to the March 23 effective date of the tariffs, said John Leonard, executive director-trade policy and programs at CBP, during a May 2 interview at the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America's annual conference. The new language about drawback raised some questions about how it was applied (see 1805010027). The drawback issue had "been an open question" and something "we needed direction on," he said. Between the first proclamation and the most recent proclamation, "CBP pointedly made sure we tried to get as many technical questions as possible answered," Leonard said. "We expect our quota module to be ready pretty soon to be able to handle absolute quotas, which we haven't for many years."
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
The International Trade Commission released Revision 4 to the 2018 Harmonized Tariff Schedule, making several changes related to recently imposed Section 232 tariffs on aluminum and iron and steel products. The updated tariff schedule includes a series of new tariff subheadings in chapter 99 used to administer quotas on South Korean steel that form part of that country’s exemption agreement, as well as new language in the subchapter notes to chapter 99 on the Section 232 tariffs. The changes took effect May 1.
Argentina and Brazil recently agreed to deals resulting in permanent exemptions from Section 232 tariffs on iron and steel products and aluminum products. Argentina will be exempt from tariffs on both aluminum and steel after agreeing to new quotas on each. Brazil, on the other hand, remains subject to 10% aluminum tariffs after rejecting quantitative restrictions, though it will get an exemption from the 25% tariff on steel.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said it will be very difficult to get China to change the policies that are the reasons the U.S. opened the Section 301 investigation. "I am always hoping, but not always hopeful," he said to a U.S. Chamber of Commerce audience two days before he leaves for negotiations in Beijing.