Though China was specifically mentioned in an executive order issued late March 24 announcing 25% tariffs on countries that import Venezuelan oil, India and the EU also imported Venezuelan oil in 2024, according to a report from Reuters earlier this year.
Most business interests argued that removing goods subject to Section 301 tariffs is not administrable, would damage the economy, and, if not abandoned, needs a long lead time to prepare for, in comments to CBP.
Groups that represent importers, carriers and ports are asking the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to rethink its remedies for Chinese dominance in shipbuilding, arguing that imposing fees on most ships bringing imports to U.S. ports will drive up prices, increase port congestion and devastate the business of smaller ports.
The Commerce Department is working to finalize an October proposed rule that will change how the agency regulates in-transit shipments that are first imported through the U.S. from foreign countries before being exported to another foreign destination (see 2410300040).
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
National Association of Foreign-Trade Zones Chair Shannon Fura, a founder of Chicago law firm Page Fura, said the language in President Donald Trump's recent executive orders creating new tariffs, which say that goods must pay tariffs before entering FTZs, "are handcuffing some of the benefits" that FTZs are designed to provide.
Associations' views diverged widely on the wisdom of codifying a modified Type 86 process and tweaking the clear-from-the-manifest process for de minimis entries. Groups also disagreed on CBP's proposals for what new data should be submitted. The agency received 95 comments on its proposal, though dozens were from individuals and didn't make substantive suggestions. Some associations and companies addressed both this proposed rule and the one that would carve out sections 301 and 232 goods from de minimis. The comment period for that rule closes March 24.
CBP is considering guidance that could provide additional information on the methodology to use when declaring a value for the aluminum or steel content for affected derivative products, according to an agency spokesperson.
Roll and Harris, a law firm specializing in customs law, put out a newsletter alerting clients that they should not assume that they can amend an entry to say that Canadian or Mexican goods qualify for USMCA if their initial entry summary didn't.
Customs brokers and importers are still grappling with how to comply with the Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum derivatives that went into effect just after midnight on March 12 (see 2503120054).