Trade Remedy/Enforcement

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In a filing with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) seeking emergency clearance for an information collection and form approval, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) formally indicated that it is “establishing a process by which U.S. stakeholders can request the exclusion of particular products classified within a covered tariff subheading from…

On May 20, 2019, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) issued a 90-day temporary general license that partially restored the export licensing requirements under the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) for exports, reexports and transfers (in-country) to Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. and its 68 affiliates (Huawei), which were added to the Entity List on May 16, 2019 (see Trump and Trade Update of May 17, 2019). The temporary general license permits these activities:

  • Continued Operation of Existing Networks and Equipment, subject to other provisions of the EAR, necessary to maintain and support existing and currently fully operational networks and equipment, including software updates and patches, subject to legally binding contracts and agreements executed between Huawei and third parties on or before May 16, 2019.
  • Support to Existing Handsets, subject to other provisions of the EAR, necessary to provide service and support, including software updates or patches, to existing Huawei handsets that were available to the public on or before May 16, 2019.
  • Cybersecurity Research and Vulnerability Disclosure, subject to other provisions of the EAR, the disclosure to Huawei of information regarding security vulnerabilities in items owned, possessed or controlled by Huawei when related to the process of providing ongoing security research critical to maintaining the integrity and reliability of existing and currently fully operational networks and equipment, as well as handsets.
  • Engagement as Necessary for Development of 5G Standards by a Duly Recognized Standards Body, subject to other provisions of the EAR, engagement with Huawei as necessary for the development of 5G standards as part of a duly recognized international standards body (e.g., Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Internet Engineering TaskForce (IETF), International Organization for Standards (ISO), International Telecommunications Union (ITU), European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), and GSM Association (GSMA or Global System for Mobile Communications)).

On May 17, 2019, the United States, Canada and Mexico concluded an agreement in which the United States agreed to remove the Section 232 tariffs for steel and aluminum imports from those countries and Canada and Mexico agreed to remove all retaliatory tariffs imposed on U.S. goods. Accordingly, President Donald Trump issued proclamations declaring that…

On May 16, 2019, President Donald Trump issued a proclamation reducing Section 232 tariffs on steel imports from Turkey from 50 percent to 25 percent, which had been in effect since August 2018 (see Trump and Trade Update of August 17, 2018). This tariff decrease will become effective May 21, 2019, at 12:01 a.m.…

The Federal Register notice filed by the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) to be published on Tuesday, May 21, 2019, indicates that the U.S. government has added Huawei and 68 of its non-U.S. affiliates to the Entity List because BIS has found that “there is reasonable cause to believe that Huawei…

After trade negotiations between China and the United States faltered last week, China announced on May 13, 2019, that it would retaliate against the United States’ increase in Section 301 tariffs on certain Chinese products from 10 percent to 25 percent (see Trump and Trade Update of May 9, 2019). China’s Ministry of Finance announced that as of June 1, 2019, it will increase the tariffs on imports of U.S. goods valued at approximately $60 billion in response to the increase in tariffs implemented by the United States. While not adding goods to its list at this time, China will be increasing the tariffs it imposed on over 5,000 U.S. products on September 24, 2018 (see Trump and Trade Update of September 19, 2018). With the May 13 announcement, the Ministry of Finance indicated that on June 1, 2019, 2,493 U.S. products will now be subject to a 25 percent tariff; 1,078 products will be increased to a 20 percent tariff; and 974 products will be subject to a 10 percent tariff. A 5 percent tariff will remain in place on 595 U.S. products. (Note: All of the linked documents related to the announcement by China’s Ministry of Finance are in Chinese. As soon as English translations become available, they will be posted.)

On March 7, 2019, Cambria Company LLC filed petitions on behalf of the domestic industry with the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) and the U.S. International Trade Commission (Commission) seeking antidumping and countervailing duties on imports of certain quartz surface products from India and Turkey. According to the petitions, quartz surface product imports from these two countries are being sold at less than fair value in the United States and receive countervailable subsidies, causing material injury and threatening further material injury to the U.S. industry if duties are not imposed.

On the same day that the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) raised the Section 301 tariff rate to 25 percent on imports from China valued at $200 billion that had been subject to a 10 percent tariff rate since September 24, 2018, the USTR also announced its fourth batch of products to be…

Since publication of yesterday’s update (see Trump Administration Increases Section 301 Import Tariff on Third Tranche of Chinese Products from 10% to 25%), questions have been raised as to whether the tariff increase affects shipments from China in process, or “on the water.” The USTR has indicated that products of China that are covered…

President Donald Trump has announced further action against Iran by imposing sanctions on its iron, steel, aluminum and copper sectors, the country’s largest non-petroleum-related sources of export revenue. In an executive order, the president implemented blocking sanctions on any person determined by the secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the secretary of State,…