Lobbyist Says He's Pushing for Legislative Relief Allowing Section 301 Refunds After Final Liquidation

FBB Federal Relations partner Ray Bucheger told members of the Pacific Coast Council of Customs Brokers and Freight Forwarders Associations that while the message on the Hill is discouraging on extending current Section 301 exclusions, his firm is working on legislation for the companies that received exclusions too late to get refunds for the tariffs paid.

“After final liquidation, all Customs can do is shrug and say, 'Nothing we can do,'” he said Oct. 22 during the virtual Western Cargo Conference. But he said there are companies that paid tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars in tariffs on Chinese imports that were given retroactive exclusions too late for them to seek refunds. “It seems to have hit small businesses the worst,” Bucheger said.

He did not speak to the likelihood of getting this legislation passed. The only trade legislation Congress has gotten done since ratifying the USMCA is renewing the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act. Even a USMCA technical fixes bill has been stalled.

He also noted that the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program has frequently expired without being renewed, though Congress always renews it retroactively when it gets around to it. “We have no idea if Congress is going to pass legislation in the post-election lame duck session,” he said, which would be needed to get GSP done before it expires on Dec. 31.

But Bucheger did talk about what they hear from congressional staffers when they ask if companies that were denied exclusions will be able to apply again, or if companies that had exclusions that lapsed will get another chance. He said folks on the Hill remind him that “the exclusions were always supposed to be temporary.”

Bucheger said the administration essentially was “telling companies they have to move out of China and a lot of companies did, and a lot of those companies moved to Vietnam.” So that makes the recently announced Section 301 investigation into Vietnam (see 2010140026 and 2010050036) “especially maddening,” he said.

Bucheger also mentioned a proposal that any product subject to Section 301 be ineligible for de minimis entries (see 2010190021). He asked rhetorically: “How do you enact this in a way that it can be enforced and is cost effective? If the administration chooses to go forward, it’s going to be hugely disruptive.” He said that if Joe Biden is elected, his officials will reassess all the sections 232 and 301 tariffs applied since 2018, but said that will take a long time.