Friday, May 31st was a busy day!  In addition to announcing the termination of GSP privileges for India effective 6/5, the office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) shared that goods shipped prior to May 10th that fall under List 3 will NOT be subjected to an additional 15% in duties (from 10% to 25%) if they arrive before June 15th—as opposed to June 1st, as originally published.

Here’s what we know about the extension and how it will affect importers:

  • This amendment is only applicable to cargo that shipped PRIOR to 5/10
  • Previously cargo that departed PRIOR to 5/10 needed to arrive before June 1 to be subject to only 10% tariffs. If cargo arrived beyond 6/1, 25% tariffs would be imposed.
  • Under the new extension, cargo that departed PRIOR to 5/10 can now arrive PRIOR TO or ON 6/15 and still retain the 10% tariff level
  • As of this writing, we have been advised that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) does not yet have programming in place for this amendment. This means that brokers will need to apply for refunds on their customers’ behalf for any affected entries
  • Shapiro is actively working to ensure that any affected cargo we have on the water arrives in accordance with the newly proposed timeline so as to avoid additional tariffs

We anticipate that the official notice will be published in the Federal Register at some point this week.

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