On June 2, 2021, United States Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai announced the conclusion of the one-year Section 301 investigations of Digital Service Taxes (DSTs) adopted by Austria, India, Italy, Spain, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. The final determination in those investigations is to impose additional tariffs of 25% on certain goods (specified in Annex A to each notice) from these countries, while suspending the tariffs for up to 180 days to provide additional time…
On March 26, 2021, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced the next steps in its Section 301 investigations of Digital Service Taxes (DSTs) adopted or under consideration by ten US trading partners. In January, USTR found that the DSTs adopted by Austria, India, Italy, Spain, Turkey, and the United Kingdom were subject to action under Section 301 because they discriminated against US digital companies, were inconsistent with principles of international taxation,…
On March 26, 2021, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced the next steps in its Section 301 investigations of Digital Service Taxes (DSTs) adopted or under consideration by ten US trading partners. In January, USTR found that the DSTs adopted by Austria, India, Italy, Spain, Turkey, and the United Kingdom were subject to action under Section 301 because they discriminated against US digital companies, were inconsistent with principles of international taxation,…
On January 12, 2021, the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) published in the Federal Register individual determinations regarding whether the Digital Services Taxes (DST) of India, Turkey and Italy are actionable pursuant to Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. India: USTR has determined that India’s DST is unreasonable or discriminatory and burdens or restricts US commerce and thus is actionable under Section 301. Based on information obtained during the investigation,…
On December 16, 2020, US Department of the Treasury delivered to Congress the semiannual Report on Macroeconomic and Foreign Exchange Policies of Major Trading Partners of the United States. Treasury determined that both Vietnam and Switzerland are currency manipulators. For each country, Treasury assessed, based on a range of evidence and circumstances, that at least part of its exchange rate management over the four quarters through June 2020, and particularly foreign exchange intervention, was for…
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce announced that on October 23, the secretariat of the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (the “Agreement”) notified all member parties that Mongolia had deposited a letter of acceptance, and completed the Agreement accession procedures, and plans to be in January 2021. On the 1st, mutual tariff reduction arrangements were implemented with relevant members. According to the tariff reduction arrangement, Mongolia will reduce tariffs on 366 tax items, mainly related to aquatic products, vegetables…
On June 2, 2020, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced that his office is beginning investigations into digital services taxes that have been adopted or are being considered by a number of our trading partners. The investigations will be conducted under Section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act. This provision gives the USTR broad authority to investigate and respond to a foreign country’s action which may be unfair or discriminatory and negatively affect US Commerce. …
On June 2, 2020, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced that his office is beginning investigations [Docket No. USTR-2020-0022] into digital services taxes that have been adopted or are being considered by a number of the US’ trading partners. The investigations will be conducted under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. This provision gives the USTR broad authority to investigate and respond to a foreign country’s action which may be unfair or…
On February 7, 2020, the US Trade Representative (USTR) published in the Federal Register a document announcing the country-by-country reallocations of 78,071 MTRV of the fiscal year (FY) 2020 in-quota quantity of the World Trade Organization (WTO) tariff-rate quota (TRQ) for imported raw cane sugar from those countries that stated they do not plan to fill their FY 2020 allocated raw cane sugar quantities. See the notice for country-by-country reallocations.
On May 21, 2019, President Trump signed a Proclamation to Modify the List of Beneficiary Developing Countries Under the Trade Act of 1974 [not yet published in the Federal Register], which terminates the designation of India as a beneficiary developing country, effective June 5, 2019. To reflect this termination, general notes 4(a) and 4(d) and pertinent subheadings of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS) are modified as set forth in Annex A…