February 2019

China Tariff Hike Postponed – USTR to Establish an Exclusion Process – Seminar on “China Tariffs/AD/CVD 101”

The on-going trade war continues as China and the US make progress to come to an agreement. For background information on past actions taken by the Trump Administration to protect American Intellectual Property, check out our previous blogs.

China Tariff Increase is Postponed

President Trump reported in a February 24th tweet that as a result of the “substantial progress” in trade negotiations with China on “important structural issues” he will be delaying the increase from 10 percent to 25 percent in the additional Section 301 tariffs on the List 3 goods (valued at about US$200 billion) that is scheduled to take place on  March 2nd. To formalize the extension, the administration will have to publish a Federal Register notice stating the Section 301 additional tariff on the so-called List 3 products will remain at ten percent for now and the notice will likely provide the new date for the tariff increase. To date no formal notice has been published.

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Civil Forfeiture – Know Your Rights!

Routinely, individuals in the U.S. have property taken from them under “Asset Forfeiture” laws and are unaware of their rights.  Civil judicial forfeiture does not require a criminal conviction, and is a powerful legal tool used by law enforcement and Federal Agencies to seize property that is involved in a crime. Fines and forfeitures have become a key source of revenue, bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars each year.

The majority of federal forfeiture cases are uncontested when there is a related criminal case. Administrative forfeiture occurs when property is seized but no one files a claim to contest the seizure. Property that can be administratively forfeited includes merchandise prohibited from importation; a conveyance used to import, transport, or store a controlled substance; a monetary instrument; or other property that does not exceed $500,000 in value. Federal law imposes strict deadlines and notification requirements in the administrative forfeiture process. If the seizure is contested, then the U.S. government is required to use either criminal or civil judicial forfeiture proceedings to gain title to the property.

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