As previously reported, the U.S. has announced a temporary delay until March 1, 2019, of an increase from 10 percent currently to 25 percent in the additional “Section 301” tariffs on $200 billion worth of imports from China while the two sides conduct negotiations on longstanding trade irritants. However, as of this writing the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative had not published an official notice of the tariff hike delay in the Federal Register.
The lack of an official notice is preventing U.S. Customs and Border Protection from making the necessary changes in the Automated Commercial Environment to ensure that the additional tariff remains at 10 percent come Jan. 1. While CBP can make these changes in ACE fairly quickly after a formal notice is published, importers should seriously consider electing the arrival date as the entry date for shipments due to arrive in the next 2-3 weeks.
If a notice is not published in the Federal Register before the end of the year, the 10 percent additional tariff on List 3 products from China will automatically jump to 25 percent Jan. 1 at 12:01 a.m.
For more information on electing the arrival date, please contact Tom Gould at (661) 471-2659.