Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said Taiwan's an attractive free trading partner but not as important to exporters as China is. “I'm for a free trade agreement with Taiwan, but I wouldn't want that to stand in the way of a phase two deal with China,” he told reporters on a conference call Aug. 17. China sees Taiwan as a breakaway province, and considers it part of China, not an independent country. Taiwan's president recently said he'd like negotiations to begin on an FTA (see 2008130010), and 161 House members have argued for opening negotiations with Taiwan (see 1912200014).
USMCA
The U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement is a free trade agreement between the three countries, also known as CUSMA in Canada and T-MEC in Mexico. Replacing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 2020, the agreement contains a unique sunset provision where, after six years (in 2026), any of the three parties may decide not to continue the agreement in its current form and begin a period of up to 10 years where USMCA provisions may be renegotiated.
CBP updated its “suggested certification of origin template for trade agreements” to include USMCA and the U.S.-Japan Trade Agreement, CBP said in a CSMS message Aug. 14. The updated template is “a fillable template that demonstrates how such a Certification of Origin can be structured, and which users may elect to use,” CBP said. “Its use, or adherence to its structure, however, is in no way compulsory.” The template should be saved to a computer “for best results,” it said.
Some “high tech” goods of Chinese origin sent to Mexico for minimal handling and then to the U.S. are eligible for USMCA tariff treatment, CBP said in an Aug. 7 ruling. Jose Fierro, an El Paso, Texas, customs broker, requested the ruling less than a week after USMCA entered into force July 1. The broker said that a client “has contracted with a Mexican maquiladora facility to provide certain logistical services” and inquired whether USMCA treatment would apply.
The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated Aug. 11 The following headquarters rulings were modified recently, according to CBP:
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories from Aug. 3-7 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
As Canadians consider which of 68 aluminum-containing products to put on a tariff retaliation list, U.S. industrial producers and buyers of aluminum reacted with dismay to the news that a large segment of Canadian aluminum imports will face a 10% tariff starting Aug. 16.
The International Trade Commission on July 30 issued Revision 18 to the 2020 Harmonized Tariff Schedule. This latest version implements extended exclusions from list two Section 301 tariffs on products from China under new subheading 9903.88.54 and new U.S. note 20(ggg) to subchapter III of chapter 99. The ITC also made a technical fix to general note 11 for USMCA. The changes are effective July 31.
There are no plans to automatically extend Section 301 tariff exclusions, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said in answers to written questions from senators on the Finance Committee and members of the House Ways and Means Committee. When he was asked repeatedly by members of Congress if the exclusions would be extended automatically to help small businesses struggling due to the COVID-19 recession, he said no and that “USTR has not decided whether to possibly extend again the exclusions extended until the end of 2020.” Lighthizer testified at the hearings in June (see 2006180029 and 2006170008).
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories from July 27-31 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said the technical fixes to USMCA need to be done, and he hopes a technical fixes bill can pass the Senate by unanimous consent. The bill would allow refunds of merchandise processing fees in post-entry reconciliation (see 2007070056) and may also change treatment of foreign-trade zones, a change that those zones say is not a technical fix at all, but a policy change (see 2007200021).