The Federal Notice has officially been posted. Click here to view the full version. Section 301 List 3 tariffs on Chinese goods are still expected to increase from 10% to 25% effective 12:01 AM on Friday, May 10th.

We say this with awareness (but not a great deal of hope) that these tariffs could possibly be again delayed as a result of talks between China and U.S. delegates scheduled for today, Thursday, May 9th.

Reading the official USTR notice closely, it states that importers should prepare for the additional 15% in tariffs to be imposed with regard to goods:

  1. Entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after 12:01 AM EST on May 10th, 2019.
  2. Exported to the U.S. on or after May 10th, 2019.

This is very different from how the tariffs have been imposed in the past, which used the import date as the date that governed.

This means that the additional duties will not impact goods that are imported on or after Friday, May 10th unless they were also exported to the U.S. on Friday, May 10th (an obvious impossibility for goods coming from China). In other words, goods exported before May 10th will remain subject to 10%– and anything exported from May 10th or later will be subject to 25%.

Despite the USTR’s official statement, we have it on good authority that CBP is not yet ready to capture the data necessary to implement the additional duties in ACE since they do not currently capture export date in the duty hierarchy. We do expect CBP to address this issue as quickly as possible, but fasten your seatbelts as things are going to get bumpy.

If you have any questions about the additional duties or would like to discuss your options as an importer please reach out to us at [email protected].

Shapiro will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates as they become available.