International trade and politics are inseparable, and yet it seems that politics is rarely brought into conversation between international shippers and transportation providers. After all, international trade remains largely standardized amongst cultures with very different governmental structures, laws, regulations, and practices. However, every once in a while, new trade laws are put into action that affect a great deal of workers and companies in the shipping industry.

Most recently, this has come in the form of Trump’s new China import tariff laws. Initially, importers across the U.S. were impacted by the 25% tariff on imported steel, but as of July 6^th, a whole new list of Chinese imported products will be taxed at the same rate. Here’s a little bit about it:

Tariff Rates: Definition and Purpose

We assume that most people who are reading this article are already familiar with tariff rates, so we will keep it short and sweet. For those who would love to learn more about tariff rates, we have articles on how they affect international transportation costs, and the different types of tariff rates. If you haven’t yet learned about tariff rates, we encourage you to read those articles first.

Definition

In short, an import tariff is a taxation placed on goods that are imported to the United States. But all goods are taxed at different rates depending on the type of commodity, quantity, country of origin, etc. All these specific rates can be found via an HTS Code lookup. An HTS Code is a code with a unique set of numbers for each category and specific subset of products. Take coffee for example:

• 0901: Coffee, whether or not roasted or decaffeinated; coffee husks and skins; coffee substitutes containing coffee in any proportion
  • 11.00: Not Decaffeinated
  • 12.00: Decaffeinated
  • 90.10: Coffee Husks and Skins
  • 90.20: Coffee Substitutes

“0901” is the preface of the code which refers to the general categorical umbrella of coffee products, while the remainder of numbers refer to the specifics of each product subset. Tariffs placed on coffee products may apply similarly between all “0901” products, but taxations may also be specific to only certain products under the “0901” umbrella.

Purpose

In summary, tariff rates serve two primary purposes:

• Raise Government Money: The government must staff U.S. Customs workers, man the port, inspect containers, pay for equipment, etc. This money must be raised in some way, and placing small (or sometimes large) tariff rates on imported products allows our government to employee government Customs workers at U.S. ports.
• Control Domestic Production: Take the example of shoes – If a shoe costs $1.00 to produce in the U.S., but $0.50 to produce in China, it would be in the best interest of U.S. footwear retailers to purchase and import shoes from China. But if the government jacks of the tariff rates associated with Chinese shoe imports, it will encourage more U.S. companies to produce shoes locally since it will be more cost-effective for local buyers to purchase from domestic producers.

Trump’s Tariff Laws

In March and June, Trump had set new tariff laws on imported Steel and Aluminum, with rates being set at 25% and 10% respectively. However, as of July 6^th, new tariff laws will be deployed that affect a whole slew of different products. The issue is, there isn’t much coverage on the internet as to exactly what products are affected by this tariff.

Following the recent June tariff rates, here is a second list of products from China that the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) have disclosed to become subject to an additional 25% duty. Under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, USTR has issued a schedule for providing comments to this second list.

For clarity on impacted products, here is a specific list based on the HTS Code of these products. Here is a link to the HTS Code lookup site if you would like to learn more about each product. Just copy and paste the codes for product specifications:

2710.19.(30-40): Lubricating oils/greases

3403.19.(10 & 50): Lubricating preparations

3403.99.00: Lubricating preparations

3811.29.00: Additive for lubricative oils

3901.xx.xx: Polyethylene, ethylene, and polymer products

3902.xx.xx: Polypropylene, polyisobutylene, propylene, and polymers

3903.xx.xx: Polystyrene, styrene-acrylonitrile, ABS copolymers, and styrene polymers

3904.xx.xx: Polyvinyl chloride, Vinyl chloride , Vinylidene chloride, polytetrafluoroethylene, and Fluoropolymers

3905.xx.xx: Polyvinyl acetate, and copolymers of vinyl esters

3906.xx.xx: Polymethyl methacrylate, and acrylic polymers

3907.xx.xx: Polyacetals, polyethers, epoxide resins, polycarbonates, alkyd resins, unsaturated allyl resins, and thermoplastic liquid crystals

3908.xx.xx: Polyamide

3909.xx.xx: Resins of: urea, melamine, and phenolic. Polyurethanes.

3910.00.00: Silicones in primary forms

3911.xx.xx: Petroleum resins, elastomeric polysulfides, carbodiimide, benzenamine, and chlorinated synthetic rubber

3912.xx.xx: Cellulose acetates, nitrates, ethers, and nesoi

3913.xx.xx: Alginic acid, natural polymers, and natural rubber chemical derivatives

3914.00.(20 & 60): polyvinylbenzyltrimethylammonium chloride, and ion-exchangers based on headings of 3901 and 3913

3916.xx.xx: Monofilament, and monofilament nesoi

3917.xx.xx: Tubes, pipes and hoses, rigid, of polymers of ethylene, propylene, vinyl chloride, and plastics nesoi

3919.xx.xx: Self-adhesive plates, sheets, and other flat surfaces produced by glass grains and nesoi

3920.xx.xx: Nonadhesive plates, sheets, film, foil and strip

3921.xx.xx: Nonadhesive plates, sheets, film, foil and strip

7002.20.10: Glass rods of fused quartz or other fused silica, unworked

7308.xx.xx: Iron or steel

7614.xx.xx: Aluminum wire, cables, conductors, and other products

8406.82.10: Steam turbines

8407.xx.xx: Spark ignition reciprocating piston engines

8408.20.10: Compression-ignition internal-combustion piston engines

8419.xx.xx: Certain types of machinery

8420.xx.xx: Rolling machinery for paper, processing textiles, etc.

8424.xx.xx: Machinery for spraying liquids

8432.xx.xx: Seeders

8443.99.40: Parts of photocopying apparatus

8455.90.40: Parts for metal-rolling mills

8464.10.01: Sawing machines for working stones, ceramics, and concretes

8465.(95 & 96).00: Drilling, splitting, and slicing machines for wood, cork, bone, rubber, etc.

8466.30.80: Certain machinery attachments

8473.50.(60 & 90): Parts for certain machinery

8475.29.00: Machines for working glass

8483.30.90: Bearing hosings nesoi

8486.xx.00: Machines for manufacturs of boules or wafers, plat panel displays, masks, reticles, and semiconductors

8501.xx.xx: Electric and DC motors and generators

8507.xx.xx: Storage batteries nesoi

8511.xx.xx: Voltage and boltage-current regulators

8529.10.91: Antennas

8533.90.40: Ceramic or metallic materials electrically/mechanically reactive to temperature changes

8536.xx.xx: Electrical apparatus for circuits, snap switches, and optical fiber connectors

8537.10.30: Electric control panels

85(41, 42, 43, & 44).xx.xx: Diodes, electronic integrated circuits, synchros, transducers, and electric conductors nesoi

86(01 & 02).xx.xx: Rail locomotives, diesel-electric locomotives

86(05 & 06).xx.xx: Railway/tramway passenger coaches, tank cars, and freight cars

8607.xx.xx: Parts of railway/tramway/rolling stock cars

8609.00.00: Containers

8701.xx.xx: Road tractors

87(04 & 05).xx.xx: Mtr. Vehicles

8711.xx.xx: Motorcycles

8901.30.00: Vessels designed for transport of goods

8905.90.10: Floating docks

9001.(10 & 20).00: Optical fibers, polarizing material

9014.10.90: Compasses

9025.xx.xx: Pyrometers, thermometers, and electrical hydrometers

90(27 & 28).xx.xx: Gas/smoke apparatus, microtomes, gas supply meters, liquid meters, etc.

9029.xx.xx: Speedometers, and parts of revolution counters

9030.xx.xx: Multimeters and instruments for measuring electric voltage and quantities

Full List of Trump’s China Tariff Affected Products

If you are interested in finding out whether or not your specific product is impacted by Trump’s new tariff laws going into effect on July 6^th, you can read the full list here.

If you have any questions regarding these tariffs, or other general questions regarding tariffs and imports, we would encourage you to give us a call. Our team of experts is always happy to help people get a better grasp on topics like this.