Increased Tariffs and Sanctions against China: How to Mitigate Your Exposure and be Compliant

Why Should You Attend:

How does it feel to be caught in the middle of a growing trade war -- rife with high import tariffs? These huge tariffs against China began in 2018. Having received comments from importers “benefiting” from these US tariffs, in August 2022, the USTR announced the continuance of tariffs against China.

These import duties greatly increase your production costs and sales prices. From 2018, US tariffs on Chinese imports have in many cases, been as high as, 25% of the value of your Chinese imports.

This webinar will examine several proven, legitimate, and lawful options for duty-saving opportunities.

These Tariff Mitigation Strategies Include:

• Product Exclusion Requests: Exclusions are considered under certain circumstances, such as a lack of available, competitive products outside China; tariffs causing economic harm to an industry; or the products being sourced not benefiting China’s 2025 industrial initiative.
• Country of Origin Adjustments: Moving portions of Chinese manufacturing operations to another country to achieve a change in product origin.
• Foreign Trade Zones and Bonded Warehouses: When using a foreign trade zone, the typical US CBP entry process, such as payment of duties, does not apply until your goods leave the FTZ. Importers can also store merchandise subject to import tariffs in a bonded warehouse, and then export it to another country without having to pay the tariffs on it.
• Duty Drawbacks: If you import products into the US only to export them to another country, you may be entitled to 99% compensation for the duties paid.
• Tariff Engineering: You may alter the HTS classification of an intended imported good to benefit from a lower duty rate, but you must be careful to do so lawfully, which we will examine.
• Value Reduction/First Sale Tactics: This approach decreases the dutiable value of imported goods by authorizing importers to use the price paid in the first sale. It allows an earlier sale to be used in declaring customs value as long as that sale can be documented as a sale for exportation to the US and importer meets other Customs requirements.
• Utilize sec. 321 (“de minimus”) for distribution from the factory directly to the end consumer for shipments valued at less than 800 USD.
• Negotiate to Share the tariff costs: Suppliers may be willing to absorb the cost of the tariffs themselves, in order to hold onto the business.

Areas Covered in the Webinar:

This webinar will cover the following tariff mitigation strategies:

• Product Exclusion Requests
• Country of Origin Adjustments
• Foreign Trade Zones and Bonded Warehouses
• Duty Drawbacks
• Tariff Engineering
• Value Reduction/First Sale Tactics
• “De minimus” imports
• Negotiate to Share the tariff costs

Who Will Benefit:

• Directors, CEOs, CFOs, COOs, VPs & C-level professionals across trade industry
• Import and export managers
• Supply chain managers
• Labor and legal affairs
• Procurement managers
• Customs regulatory managers
• Customs compliance managers
• Operations professionals
• Regulatory compliance professionals
• Custom compliance personnel
• Quality managers
• Office managers
• Customs/logistics supervisors
• Trade compliance managers
• EHS managers
• Purchasing managers
• Quality/process control engineers
• Project managers
• Global compliance managers
• Sales administrators
• Personnel involved in import-export from/to North America
• Shipping and logistics personnel
• Legal personnel
• Trade consultants/advisors
• Chambers of commerce professionals
• Foreign trade agency professionals
• Business development professionals

Douglas Cohen
Senior Manager for Global Trade and Contracts, Worldwide Trade and Legal Associates

For more than 25 years, Mr. Douglas Cohen has been at the forefront of international trade and transactions. With senior positions in private consultancy, the US Department of Commerce, the European Union, American Airlines, and IATA, he has developed substantial expertise in import-export operations and compliance. At present, he is Director General, Global Trade and Transactions, at Worldwide Trade & Legal Associates, where he provides legal and strategic advice to organizations seeking to enter or expand foreign markets whilst mitigating regulatory risk.

Mr. Cohen has been asked to teach his expertise in international trade at universities and corporate seminars in North America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. He is currently a faculty member at the Thunderbird School of Global Management.

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