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Another chapter in the ongoing softwood lumber dispute between the United States and Canada was opened on September 1. Canada’s Trade Minister Mary Ng announced that Canada was launching a Chapter 10 United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) challenge to the latest countervailing duties (CVD) in place on importations of softwood lumber into the U.S. Additionally, a suit is being filed by Canada in the U.S. Court of International Trade to challenge the antidumping duties (ADD) on softwood lumber from Canada also now in effect.
The dispute goes back to 1981 when the U.S. lumber industry first requested the Department of Commerce to investigate Canadian stumpage programs and impose countervaling duties. The issue is rooted in the fact that most Canadian land where softwood lumber is harvested from is owned by provincial governments, and the fees charged to harvest timber on the land, or the stumpage rates, are set by government regulation. In the United States, most softwood timber land is privately owned and the stumpage rates are determined by market forces. U.S. lumber companies have long claimed that the stumpage rates charged to harvesters by the provinces in Canada are well below market rates and are, therefore, countervailable subsidies. An agreement to suspend the application of any ADD or CVD that had been in effect expired in 2015, and the battle has raged on ever since. The World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled in favor of Canada in 2020 and stated that the United States CVD measures were not in conformity with its WTO obligations. However, the U.S. has ignored that determination for the most part. Talks between the leaders of Canada and the U.S. in Ottawa earlier this year did not break the impasse.
In an Executive Order published on March 24, 2025, the administration has announced 25% tariffs on countries that import oil from Venezuela. The order states that “On or after April 2, 2025, a tariff of 25 percent may be imposed on all goods imported into the United States from any country that imports Venezuelan oil...” These duties will be supplemental to duties already imposed such as IEEPA, Section 232, Section 301 China tariffs, etc.
Additionally the President signed an executive order on March 26 applying Section 232 duties to automobiles, light trucks and auto parts (such as transmissions/powertrain parts, engines and engine parts etc.). The rate of duty will be 25% and this will go into effect starting April 3. It will not apply to USMCA parts until a process has been established to account for the non-US content of auto parts. If additional parts are to be tariffed, there will be a Federal Register notice as soon as practicable after the Commerce Secretary’s decision, and the tariffs will be collected one day after that notice.
Finally in response to a question yesterday, the President indicated that Lumber Tariffs may come starting on April 2.
Tariffs on Imports
Note this information is subject to change
Canada
• 25% IEEPA tariff on goods not meeting USMCA (U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement) rules of origin.
• 10% IEEPA tariff on potash not meeting USMCA (U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement) rules of origin.
• 10% IEEPA tariff on energy not meeting USMCA (U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement) rules of origin.
• IEEPA tariffs became effective March 4, 2025.
• March 7, 2025 the carve out for USMCA became effective.
• USMCA qualified goods can be entered without the additional IEEPA rate.
• There’s no mechanism to recover duties paid from March 4 through March 6 on USMCA goods.
• If eligible for USMCA based on USMCA rules of origin, then IEEPA tariff will not apply.
Mexico
• 25% IEEPA tariff on goods not meeting USMCA (U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement) rules of origin.
• IEEPA tariffs became effective March 4, 2025.
• March 7, 2025 the carve out for USMCA became effective.
• USMCA qualified goods can be entered without the additional IEEPA rate.
• There’s no mechanism to recover duties paid from March 4 through March 6 on USMCA goods.
• If eligible for USMCA based on USMCA rules of origin, then IEEPA tariff will not apply.
China
• IEEPA 20% tariff on all imports.
• Was initially 10% but was increased to 20% on March 4, 2025.
• Started on February 4, 2025.
• Goods on final leg destined to the US prior to February 1 and arriving before March 7, 2025 were eligible for an exemption on the IEEPA tariff.
• Existing Section 301 tariffs still in affect on top of IEEPA tariffs.
• Tariffs stack including IEEPA, 301 and 232 tariffs.
• Existing Section 301 exclusions are still in effect until their expiry date.
Section 232: Steel & Aluminum Tariffs
• All non-US steel and aluminum tariffs are 25% regardless of origin
• 25% tariffs expanded to include derivative products.
• No more exclusion process
• No Drawback allowed
• End of quota agreements with affected countries
• FTZ admissions must be in Privileged Foreign Status
• Listing of affected HTS codes and their corresponding chapter 99 program tariff can be found at the link below.
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA)
• Grants the U.S. President authority to regulate commerce in response to national emergencies.
• Used to impose economic sanctions, restrict trade, or freeze assets of individuals, companies, or governments.
• Aims to protect U.S. national security and foreign policy interests.
• No drawback allowed
JAS Forwarding (USA) Inc. Compliance Team is pleased to announce that we will be hosting a webinar on all things tariffs on March 25, 2025, at 3PM Eastern time.
On the agenda, we will cover Canada tariffs, Mexico tariffs, China tariffs, Steel & Aluminum, reciprocal tariffs and much more.
Our own Laurie Arnold and Scott Cassell will discuss tariffs and answer questions. Check out our webinar flyer and the link to the registration page below.
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