On May 31, 2019, the U.S. Trade Representative announced its intention to publish a Federal Register Notice which will delay the tariff increase applicable to Chinese-origin goods listed on Section 301, Tranche 3. Whereas the tariff for these goods was scheduled to increase from 10% to 25% on June 1, 2019, the USTR has announced that the increase will be delayed until June 15, 2019 for goods which were exported from China to the United States prior to May 10, 2019 and are entered for consumption before June 15, 2019.

Note that importers are permitted to elect the date of a vessel’s arrival in the port limits as the entry date, pursuant to Customs’ Regulations at 19 C.F.R. Sec. 141.68(a)(3). For goods which are scheduled to arrive in the United States prior to June 15, 2019, this strategy can be used to accelerate the date of entry, and avoid the duty increase. The importer must specifically request that the date of arrival be deemed the date of entry when the entry documentation is filed with U.S. Customs. Importers who fail to make this election are at risk that the date of entry could be deemed to occur on or after June 15, 2019, which would result in the higher rate of duty being assessed on the imported goods. Accordingly, importers should contact their customs brokers to confirm that the appropriate declarations are made prior to entry.

Should you have any questions regarding the Sec. 301 tariffs, do not hesitate to contact our office.