International Law

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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TOP 10 MISTAKES MADE BY TRADEMARK OWNERS

In most jurisdictions, the majority of trademark filings are made by small businesses and entrepreneurs or solopreneurs. When starting a business, it is easy to get caught up on getting your business off the ground. Below outlines the TOP 10 mistakes trademark owners can make (and we will teach you how to avoid them and MUCH more in our seminar, ABC’s of Protecting Your Brand, on February 20, 2019).

  1. Not Realizing That Protecting Trademarks Could Create Value for Your Business.

Most new businesses should analyze the value of their business from the start. While most businesses operate out of rented/leased space or straight out of the owner’s home and rely on loans to promote their services or financing for product inventory, businesses fall short in adding value to their own brand name. When it’s time to sell or liquidate businesses are left with little or no assets apart from their client lists and intellectual property, if any. Not investing in protecting their trademarks will diminish the value of their business in the future.

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PAYING CHINESE TARIFF’S & YOUR COMPETITORS AREN’T?

Now that the Section 301 tariffs are effective, importers are required pay additional duties – but not all are doing so. We found that while some importers know their product is subject to one of the 3 Chinese tariff lists, they are either using HTS’s not on the list (even though that is not the correct HTS for their product), or using an HTS subject to additional tariffs, but, not paying the additional tariffs. If you are an honest importer paying the correct amount of additional duties, this may leave you unable to compete in the current market.

If you’ve noticed that some of your competitor’s pricing has not been affected by the additional tariffs and you have been forced to increase your prices to stay in business, you have an option to help equal the playing field.

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Update – Deadline Approaching – A Snapshot of Section 301 Duties & Your Options!

The trade war has kept members in the trade industry on their toes – here is a recap.

Effective Dates:

For importers being hit by additional duties it is crucial to know when the additional duties are effective and must be paid. USTR has now issued three lists under 301 Section Trade Remedies. We urge importers to clearly understand which list their products are subject to and develop a business plan on how to prepare for additional import costs.
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