Status of Extra U.S. Tariffs on Iron and Steel

Section 232 of the Tariff Act empowers the president to impose “special” additional tariffs on imported items whose importation threatens the security of the defense industrial base.  The idea behind the law was to protect the national industrial base against threats posed by cheaper, sometimes more durable imported competition of the same products.  The Act…

Customs Projects Stronger Enforcement impacting goods from China’s Xinjiang Province. . .

Responding to Communist China’s concentration camps for its minority Uighur population which include allegations of forced labor, involuntary abortions and other abuse, the Customs & Border Protection Agency (“CBP”) has increased its focus on products that it suspects originate in their home province of Xinjiang. You may recall that CBP recently issued a Withhold Release…

Customs isn’t so “festive” at Christmas . . .

If you import Christmas- related items, you are probably heartened when you first see US Harmonized Tariff Heading 9505 which covers, in part: “Festive, carnival or other entertainment articles . . .; parts and accessories thereof;” and specifically, Subheading 9505.10, “Articles for Christmas festivities and parts and accessories thereof:”.  These are duty-free classifications when the…

Major changes to the Buy American Act on the way . . .

In mid-September, the Trump Administration announced proposed major changes strengthening certain of the Buy American preferences for purchases by the federal government. The federal Buy American Act is the leading federal law, of several in effect, that mandates a preference for American origin manufactured end products and construction materials.  Currently, the Buy American regulations empower…