Apparel and Footwear from the United Kingdom on USTR List for Potential 25% Tariff

On March 31, 2021, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) published in the Federal Register (86 FR 16829) a request for written comments regarding a potential trade action in connection with the Section 301 investigation of the United Kingdom's Digital Services Tax (DST). USTR also will convene virtual public hearings and accept rebuttal comments in relation to the potential action.

Comments are due by April 30, 2021.

The United Kingdom has adopted a DST that applies a two percent tax on the revenues of certain search engines, social media platforms and online marketplaces. The United Kingdom's DST applies only to companies with digital services revenues exceeding [pound]500 million and United Kingdom digital services revenues exceeding [pound]25 million.

On January 14, 2021, based on information obtained during a investigation and the advice of the Section 301 Committee, the U.S. Trade Representative determined that the United Kingdom's DST is unreasonable or discriminatory and burdens or restricts U.S. commerce, and therefore is actionable under sections 301(b) and 304(a) of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2411(b) and 2414(a))

USTR proposes to impose additional tariffs of up to 25 percent ad valorem on a list of goods from the United Kingdom.

The list published at 86 FR 16829 is quite extensive and contains the following articles of protential interest to clients of Agathon Associates.

Note: All products that are classified in the eight-digit subheadings of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) that are listed in this Annex are covered by the proposed action. The product descriptions that are contained in this Annex are provided for informational purposes only, and are not intended to delimit in any way the scope of the proposed action. Any questions regarding the scope of a particular HTSUS subheading should be referred to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. In the product descriptions, the abbreviation ``nesoi'' means ``not elsewhere specified or included''.

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      HTSUS subheading                   Product description
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6104.43.20.................  Women's or girls' dresses, knitted or
                              crocheted, of synthetic fibers, nesoi.
6201.12.20.................  Men's or boys' overcoats, carcoats, capes,
                              & similar coats of cotton, not knit or
                              crocheted, not containing 15% or more by
                              wt of down, etc.
6201.92.45.................  Men's or boys' anoraks, windbreakers & sim
                              articles nesoi, not knit/crochet, cotton,
                              not cont. 15% or more by wt of down, etc,
                              o/than rec perf outwear.
6202.12.20.................  Women's or girls' overcoats, carcoats, etc,
                              not knitted or crocheted, of cotton, not
                              containing 15% or more by weight of down,
                              etc.
6202.13.40.................  Women's or girls' overcoats, carcoats,
                              capes, cloaks and similar articles, not
                              knitted or crocheted, of man-made fibers,
                              nesoi.
6202.92.90.................  Women's/girls' anoraks, windbreakers &
                              similar articles, nt knit/crochet, cotton,
                              nt cont. 15% or more by wt of down, etc, o/
                              than rec perf outwear.
6204.43.40.................  Women's or girls' dresses, not knitted or
                              crocheted, of synthetic fibers, nesoi.
6204.44.40.................  Women's or girls' dresses, not knitted or
                              crocheted, of artificial fibers, nesoi.
6204.49.10.................  Women's or girls' dresses, not knitted or
                              crocheted, containing 70% or more by
                              weight of silk or silk waste.
6205.20.20.................  Men's or boys' shirts, not knitted or
                              crocheted, of cotton, nesoi.
6215.10.00.................  Ties, bow ties and cravats, not knitted or
                              crocheted, of silk or silk waste.
6403.59.30.................  Footwear w/outer soles and uppers of
                              leather, not covering the ankle, welt,
                              nesoi.
6403.59.90.................  Footwear w/outer soles and uppers of
                              leather, not cov. ankle, n/welt, for
                              persons other than men, youths and boys.
6403.91.30.................  Footwear w/outer soles of rubber/plastics/
                              composition leather & uppers of leather,
                              covering the ankle, welt.
6403.99.60.................  Footwear w/outer soles of rubber/plastics/
                              comp. leather & uppers of leather, n/cov.
                              ankle, n/welt, for men, youths and boys,
                              nesoi.
6404.20.40.................  Footwear w/outer soles of leather/comp.
                              leath., n/o 50% by wt. rub./plast. or rub./
                              plast./text. & 10%+ by wt. rub./plast.,
                              val. o/$2.50/pr.
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