In a statement made on Friday, January 24th, President Trump announced the imposition of an additional 25% tariff on certain steel products—and an additional 10% tariff on certain aluminum products—that  will go into effect on February 8th. The President cited the lack of positive results from existing 232 tariffs, amidst a surge of steel and […]

China has commenced the process of reducing the number of ships calling the city of Wuhan in an effort to avoid the further spread of the Coronavirus, a deadly respiratory infection that first catalyzed in central China last week. A number of ships have been left idling along the Yangtze River, which serves as an […]

Additional Section 301 tariffs that were set to be imposed against imports of French champagne, cheeses and handbags (among other products) will no longer take effect. The additional tariffs were originally introduced in retaliation to France’s proposed digital service tax, which would have negatively impacted Google, Facebook and other large U.S. operators. On Tuesday, January […]

On Wednesday, January 15th, the U.S. and China officially ratified Phase One of their planned trade deal. The key component of Phase One involves China’s purchase of an additional $200 billion in American exports. At this time, it does not appear that the USTR has specified the exact purchases to be made, but has rather […]

According to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) will be ratified at some point this week. Click HERE to view our previous Shap Flash that provides more detail and insight into the USMCA. Shapiro will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates as they become available.

Chinese New Year (CNY) 2020 will commence on Saturday, January 25th.  As usual, it is expected to be accompanied by the typical pre-holiday surge and post-holiday deluge of blank sailings implemented by the carriers. Manufacturing in China will begin to cease as early as Thursday, January 16th, with most factories opening their doors again during […]

If your products are impacted by the Section 301 List 4A tariffs, please remember that the exclusion filing deadline is Friday, January 31st, 2020. The official exclusion request portal can be accessed HERE. Please reach out to us at [email protected] should you require any assistance with the exclusion filing process. Shapiro will also continue to […]

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced an additional set of product exclusions from Section 301 List 3 Chinese tariffs. The List 3 notice contains 2 HTS subheadings completely excluded from 25% tariffs, and 66 partially excluded subheadings, which cover 81 separate requests respectively. According to the USTR, the latest round of exclusions will retroactively […]

The U.S. – Japan Trade Agreement officially took effect on Wednesday, January 1st, 2020. Per our previous Shap Flash, the Agreement will actively reduce agricultural/industrial tariffs and digital trade barriers between the two countries. In order to receive preferential treatment under this new Agreement, a good must be originating and meet all the requirements of […]

The office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) is seeking comments regarding the extension of exclusions on the second round of Section 301 List 1 exclusions, which are currently set to expire on March 25, 2020. This extension would add another year of validity to the current product exclusions. The USTR’s evaluation will primarily focus […]

On Thursday, December 19th, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced that just 6 (six) exclusions from the first round of Section 301 tariff exclusions on List 1 goods will be granted extensions. As the exclusions for the first round of List 1 goods were set to expire on December 28th, 2019, this […]

Despite speculation that the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act (CBMA) would expire prior to next year, CBMA was included in a tax extenders package that was approved by Congress yesterday, December 17th. Within the new extended package, CBMA will remain in effect through all of 2020. For more information on CBMA and how […]

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has officially announced that the additional 15% tariffs on $160 billion of List 4B products that were set to take effect on December 15th are suspended indefinitely. Per our previous Flashes, President Trump announced last Friday that the U.S. would not be imposing the additional 15% tariffs […]

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) released additional sets of product exclusions from Section 301 Chinese tariffs. The USTR notices feature several announcements, each containing the specially prepared HTS subheadings excluded from either List 1, 2 and 3 tariffs. The List 3 notice contains 35 HTS subheadings partially excluded from 25% tariffs, and 9 […]

Per yesterday’s Flash, officials from the U.S. and China reached a tentative trade deal, just days before Section 301 List 4B tariffs were scheduled to begin on December 15th. President Trump has now confirmed the terms of “Phase One” of the U.S. – China Pact: U.S. will not impose a 15% tariff on $160 billion […]

The U.S. and China have reportedly reached a tentative trade agreement, just days ahead of the next installment of Section 301 (List 4B) tariffs scheduled to begin this Sunday, December 15th. “Phase One” of the U.S. – China pact would halt the imposition of additional 15% tariffs on $160 billion in products imported from China. […]

As mentioned in ShapTalk December 2018 issue, all remaining tariff numbers will have a specific unit of quantity (UOQ) assigned to them. Under the Trade Facilitation and Enforcement Act of 2015 (TFTEA), also referred to as the New Drawback Law, changes will be made to all HTS and Schedule B numbers for all units of […]

Today, the Trump Administration and the U.S. House of Representatives revealed plans to move forward with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which will replace the recently defunct North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). USMCA makes a few key changes to NAFTA, which are designed to favor organized labor, regular (non-gig) workers and enhance digital trade […]

As referenced in our latest Freight Report, we are roughly 1 month away from the IMO 2020 effective date, which mandates that carriers must burn 0.5% very low sulfur fuel oil (VLSFO) or operate vessels with exhaust scrubbers to meet IMO 2020 emissions regulations. In light of the above, carriers have begun implementing various surcharges […]

On Monday, December 2nd, the office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) proposed the enactment of Section 301 tariffs on French imports, covering 63 different HTS subheadings. The proposition of tariffs is in direct retaliation to France’s newly minted digital services tax, which heavily interferes with the interests of U.S. internet and software giants […]