08/24/2020

Labeling Rules Compliance for Hong Kong Goods Extended Another 45 Days

Last Friday 8/21/2020, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a notice to the Trade of their decision to extend the 45-day transition period for compliance with the President’s Executive Order (EO) on Hong Kong Normalization for an additional 45-days through November 9.

Previously, the date for compliance was September 25, 2020. According to CBP, this 45 day extension will “allow importers ample time to comply with EO requirements for goods produced in Hong Kong to be appropriately marked with the origin of “China.”

Please contact your V. Alexander account team with any questions and follow us on our website www.valexander.com for updates on this and other topics.

SECURITY NOTICE: This web post may include hyperlinks to websites outside of our internal control. All hyperlinks in this web post are believed to be legitimate and provided for your convenience, however, we cannot take any responsibility for the safety of outside links. We recommend caution as with any hyperlinks in any web post, and to hover your mouse over the links before clicking to insure the destination is as expected or to visit the sites by going to the main websites for the agencies we reference in your web browser and search for the sites for the mentioned topics from there.

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08/17/2020

China Section 301 Duties Will Not Apply to Goods Made in Hong Kong

Further to the President Trump’s Executive Order of July 14, 2020 on Hong Kong Normalization, CBP has stated in an FAQ on their website (found here) that products of Hong Kong, although required to be marked Made in China as of September 25, 2020 , the country of origin for tariff purposes will still be reported as Hong Kong (HK).

Accordingly, Section 301 duties will not apply to goods made in Hong Kong. According to CBP, “ The change in marking requirements does not affect country of origin determinations for purposes of assessing ordinary duties under Chapters 1-97 of the HTSUS or temporary or additional duties under Chapter 99 of the HTSUS. Therefore, goods that are products of Hong Kong should continue to report International Organization for Standardization (ISO) country code “HK” as the country of origin when required”.

Please contact your V. Alexander account team with any questions and follow us on our website www.valexander.com for updates on this and other topics.

SECURITY NOTICE: This web post may include hyperlinks to websites outside of our internal control. All hyperlinks in this web post are believed to be legitimate and provided for your convenience, however, we cannot take any responsibility for the safety of outside links. We recommend caution as with any hyperlinks in any web post, and to hover your mouse over the links before clicking to insure the destination is as expected or to visit the sites by going to the main websites for the agencies we reference in your web browser and search for the sites for the mentioned topics from there.

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08/11/2020

New Country of Origin Marking Rules Announced for Goods Produced in Hong Kong

Further to the Executive Order of July 14, 2020 where the White House announced that Hong Kong would be treated the same as China with respect to trade, CBP has announced new marking rules for goods made in Hong Kong. A copy of the announcement can be found here.

The announcement states “this document notifies the public that, in light of the President’s Executive Order on Hong Kong Normalization, issued on July 14, 2020, suspending the application of section 201(a) of the United States-Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992 to the marking statute, section 304 of the Tariff Act of 1930, with respect to imported goods produced in Hong Kong, such goods may no longer be marked to indicate “Hong Kong” as their origin, but must be marked to indicate “China”.

CBP is granting importers a 45-day transition period for this change, which will take effect for goods entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption on or after Sept. 25.

Please contact your V. Alexander account team with any questions and follow us on our website www.valexander.com for updates on this and other topics.