EU Tariff Update – Comment Period Open for New Information Collection Process
The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) issued a noticed today in the Federal Register regarding a requested change in the way affected public comments would be collected and processed for the next revision period (starting around June 23rd, 2020 for the next 180-day review around August 12th, 2020).
Today’s notice introduces a change to simplify the way public comments would be submitted and handled. During the last review period in December, the USTR received nearly 26,000 comments and around 25,000 comments are expected for the next review period.
In order to reduce the administrative burden on the public and USTR, the office submitted an emergency request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to review the new process. The new Large Civil Aircraft Dispute Portal would require the use of the Large Civil Aircraft (LCA) form. This form would have only eight questions to complete, with drop-down menus for selections.
A summary of the objectives and a copy of the Large Civil Aircraft Dispute (LCA) Form can be found in the Federal Register notice here.
The comment period on this information collection process only is open through June 9th, 2020. Instructions on how to submit comments (on the new form process, not the EU tariffs) and contact information for further inquiries are listed below:
- Submit comments about the information collection request (ICR) to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this ICR by selecting “Currently under Review – Open for Public Comments” or by using the search function.
- For further information contact: USTR Associate General Counsel Megan Grimball at (202) 395-5725.
We will continue to monitor new developments in regards to the EU tariffs and how it may impact products you import. During the last review period in December, the products, origins and tax rates (relating to wines, liqueurs, cordials, whiskies and olive oils) were extended with no changes.