Duty-free imports of low-value goods under the Section 321 program will soon face significant restrictions under rulemaking signaled by the Biden Administration. ...more
Effective July 10, 2024, President Biden issued two Presidential Proclamations aimed at refining the tariff exclusions under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 for steel and aluminum imports from Mexico. Together,...more
On May 14, 2024, President Biden announced that he is directing his Trade Representative to increase tariffs under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 on a wide range of Chinese goods, which will significantly impact U.S....more
On March 1, 2024, Chairman of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party (“CCP”) (the “Select Committee”), Mike Gallagher (R-WI-8), issued a statement...more
New changes went into effect today for a testing program for low-value imports which have gained great significance with the rise of cross-border e-commerce. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) published these changes...more
On June 6, 2022, the White House declared a national emergency and took the unprecedented step of providing duty-free treatment of solar cells and modules from Southeast Asia for two years, delaying potential tariffs on...more
On June 6, 2022, the Biden Administration announced its intention to waive collection of antidumping (“AD”) and countervailing (“CVD”) duties on imports of crystalline silicon photovoltaic (“CSPV”) cells and modules from...more
On June 6, 2022, President Biden declared a national emergency (the “Declaration”) in relation to energy resources and temporarily extended the time of duty-free importation of solar panels and parts from Malaysia, Cambodia,...more
On February 4, 2022, President Biden issued a Proclamation extending the United States' safeguard measure on imports of certain crystalline silicon photovoltaic (CSPV) cells (whether or not partially or fully assembled into...more
On February 4, 2022, the White House announced that President Biden extended for another four years the Section 201 tariffs on imported crystalline silicon solar panels. The president raised the annual tariff rate quota for...more
HTS provision 9801.0085 is a provision for tools of trade and provides duty free treatment for qualifying articles - regardless of origin. It can save a company time and duty but can also land them in trouble. There are no...more
The House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology recently voted to advance the America Competes Act of 2022 “the Act.” This comes after the Senate passed its version of the bill, the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act,...more
Following Brexit, the UK Government has been exercising its new-found sovereignty by entering into international treaties. Many of these treaties concern the UK’s trading relationships (e.g. customs agreements with Japan, New...more
The Mexican General Import and Export Duties Law (“the Mexican Tariff”) was recently modified through a couple of decrees (effective Sept. 4 2020 and Oct. 23, 2020) to create tariff items that expressly identify electric...more
On June 3, 2020, the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) published an interim version of the Uniform Regulations concerning the interpretation, application, and administration of key provisions of the...more
Congressional appropriations serve as a potent tool to guide administrative actions in commerce and trade Before departing in the final days of 2019, Congress passed a bipartisan spending package amounting to US$1.4...more
• The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), pursuant to Section 131 of the Trade Act of 1974, has requested the U.S. International Trade Commission (Commission) to obtain public comment pertaining to the possibility of a...more
• The new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) would increase Mexico’s and Canada’s de minimis thresholds for express shipments to $117 USD and $150 CAD for duty-free entry, respectively, and $50 USD and $40 CAD for...more
ANTICORRUPTION DEVELOPMENTS - DOJ Extends FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy to Misconduct in Mergers and Acquisitions - On July 25, 2018, in a speech to the Ninth Global Forum on Anti-Corruption Compliance in High Risk...more
The European Parliament became the most recent body to ratify an expansion of the expanded World Trade Organization (WTO) Information Technology Agreement (ITA). The deal had previously been committed to and signed by the EU,...more
USTR Issues Report on China’s Implementation of WTO Agreements - The office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) recently issued an annual report on China’s implementation of its obligations under the World...more
GSP Program Review Results in Changes to Covered Products and Countries - In late September, the Office of the United States Trade Representative announced the outcome of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP)...more
The Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), a unilateral U.S. preferential trade program recently renewed by Congress, offers substantial duty savings for U.S. importers of qualifying merchandise. The GSP is intended to aid...more
On June 29, President Obama signed into law the Trade Preferences Extension Act of 2015 (“the Act”). This legislation extends certain U.S. trade preference programs through which the United States grants duty-free treatment...more
With the end of July approaching, Congress has finally turned some of its attention to addressing overdue international trade matters. However, it may be too late to prevent at least a temporary disruption to importers who...more