Tag: ustr

President Trump signs proclamation imposing tariffs on imported steel and aluminum

USTR Seeks Comments on Unfair Trade Practices

Posted by Jason P. Wapiennik on February 22, 2025

The United States Trade Representative, in a new Federal Register notice, is seeking comments to help it identify unfair trade practices and propose remedies to promote reciprocal trade. These comments will assist the USTR in identifying any unfair trade or non-reciprocal foreign trade practices.

The review covers all countries. The deadline for submissions are March 11, 2025, which must be made through USTR portal at https://comments.ustr.gov/s/ under Docket No. USTR-2025-0001.

The comments are sought as part pursuant to the America First Trade Policy Presidential Memorandum and the Reciprocal Trade and Tariffs Presidential Memorandum.

Comments should identify the country and description of the unfair trade practice, explain its operation and its impact on U.S. interests, and quantify the harm or cost to U.S. industries.

Take Action Now!

Your voice matters in shaping fair trade practices. If you have any questions or need help preparing your comments, please contact Great Lakes Customs Law at 734-855-4999. We are here to assist you in ensuring your voice is heard. Don’t miss this opportunity to make a difference!

New Section 301 (China) Tariff Rates and Exclusions Request for Comments

Posted by Jason P. Wapiennik on May 22, 2024

The United States Trade Representative (USTR) made public a “Request for Comments” after the report on the 4-year review of the Section 301 China Tariffs (see that story here).

The comment period, open to the participation of interested parties, will run from May 29, 204 to June 28, 2024. Comments must be submitted through the USTR comment portal. Comments can be submitted concerning:

Adding or increasing section 301 duty rates
Subheadings eligible for an temporary duty-exclusion process for “particular machinery used in domestic manufacturing” classified within certain subheading under Chapter 84 and 85 of the HTSUS
19 potential exclusions for “certain solar manufacturing equipment” (effectively immediately and to expire on May 31, 2025).

The notice details the proposed changes as follows:

Consistent with the President’s direction to increase section 301 tariff rates on certain categories of products, included in Annex A to this notice are 382 HTSUS subheadings and 5 statistical reporting numbers of the HTSUS, with an approximate annual trade value of $18 billion (2023). The President has directed that increases for certain products take effect in 2024, 2025, and 2026. The Trade Representative is proposing that increases in 2024 be effective August 1, 2024, and that increases in 2025 and 2026 be effective January 1 of the corresponding year.

There’s a lot more detail in the full notice which is available here. Contact Great Lakes Customs Law at 734-855-4990 via the contact page for assistance.

Renewed China Tariff/Section 301 Exclusions thru September 2023

Posted by Jason P. Wapiennik on December 22, 2022

Section 301 Exclusions

The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced announced it has extended exclusions which were set to expire on December 31, 2022 through September 30, 2023. This extension applies to 352 exclusions. This was previously referenced on a blog post here: Renewed China Tariff/Section 301 Exclusions March 2022.

The reinstated exclusions are available for any product that meets the description in the product exclusion set out in the digit Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) subheadings and product descriptions in the Annex to the Federal Register notice.

We File Protests for Section 301 Duty Refunds

If you need to file protests to get refunds of Section 301 duties, Great Lakes Customs Law can help. We’ve filed protests thousands of entries over the years, and have been successful in getting our clients refunds for Section 301 duties through protest exclusions. We are happy to discuss your needs, the level of organization required to successfully obtain refunds, and provide some transparent pricing for our services. Please contact us to speak to Jason Wapiennik, customs attorney.

Renewed China Tariff/Section 301 Exclusions March 2022

Posted by Jason P. Wapiennik on March 25, 2022

The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced reinstated product exclusions that are valid for entries liquidated from October 12, 2021 and will continue to be excluded through December 31, 2022.

I expect that the USTR will make new opportunities for new exclusions requests to be filed in the lead-up to the November midterm elections.

We File Protests for Section 301 Duty Refunds

Exclusion requests for Sec 232 and 301 tariffs

Posted by Jason P. Wapiennik on June 18, 2018

Section 232 Tariffs: Steel, Aluminum, China

President Trump has announced new tariffs this year imposed on imports from various countries under two bases; first, he imposed a 25% steel tariff and 10% aluminum tariff under section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. This section allows the President to impose tariffs for national security reasons. We have a more extensive analysis at our page Steel & Aluminum Tariff Exclusions (Section 232)

Second, President Trump announced Section 301 tariffs against China ranging from 10% to 25%. We have a more extensive analysis at our page Section 301 Tariff Exclusions (China).

To date, the fact that these tariffs might only end-up hurting domestic industries is getting a lot of attention (there is a lot of tariff activity). There seems to be little awareness or recognition — both amongst importers and the news community as a whole — that there is very large loophole in both new tariffs: exclusions.

Exclusion Requests

The section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum permit importers to request exclusions from certain products, on certain grounds. Initially, the official announcements and proclamations seemed to only permit exclusion requests on national security grounds, however, once the exclusion request form (steel) was published it seemed to permit exclusion requests to be filed for basically any reason (including insufficient U.S. availability, No U.S. Production, and “Other”).

Importers may be in a panic about the new tariffs; they should not. They should calmly consider requesting exclusions for the products so that the new tariffs will not apply to them, and they will not be required to pay the extra duties. Although the exclusion process can be done by anyone, as always, hiring an experienced attorney to advocate for the exclusion of the particular products will help to ensure the best result possible.

Want to discuss a possible section 232 exclusion?

If you’re interested in applying for an exclusion for section 232 or 301 tariffs, you can give us a call or complete the contact form below.