Section 301 (Tranche 3) Duties as of May 10, 2019
Published in the FEDERAL REGISTER on May 9, 2019, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has announced an increase in trade-remedy tariffs. The previously twice-delayed increase in trade-remedy tariffs assessed on products of Chinese origin pursuant to Section 301 Tranche 3 or List III will now be implemented. The notice provides for a two-part effective date and brokers need to consider the export and entry dates. The notice reads in part, “Effective with respect to goods (i) entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on May 10, 2019, and (ii) exported to the United States on or after May 10, 2019…”. For goods meeting both qualifications, the trade-remedy tariff will increase from 10% to 25%. Thus, goods exported to the United States from China prior to May 10, 2019, will not be subject to the higher rate of duty.
The full notice can be found here: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2019-05-09/html/2019-09681.htm
In anticipation of the USTR notice, CBP had updated ACE to provide that goods entered on or after May 10 would be subject to the higher 25% rate of duty. CBP will be reprogramming ACE to align with the USTR notice but in the meantime, CBP has issued CSMS #19-000236 advising that importers can pay the 25% duty and file a Post Summary Correction when filing instructions are available for the 10%. Alternatively, importers can delay filing their entry summary within the standard ten-day entry summary filing period until additional filing instructions are available for the 10% duty.