The US government issued a notice regarding Deferment of Duty Payments on April 12th. As explained this this document, there are two key points from this notice, and both are unfortunate.
- This announcement details that we are ultimately not eligible for this deferment, only when “gross receipts of such importer for March 13-31, 2020 or April 2020 are less than 60 percent of the gross receipts for the comparable period in 2019.“
- Secondly, this deferment does not apply to the 25% tariff:
This temporary postponement also does not apply to… any merchandise subject to one or more of the following: antidumping duties (assessed pursuant to 19 U.S.C. 1673 et seq.), countervailing duties (assessed pursuant to 19 U.S.C. 1671 et seq.), duties assessed pursuant to Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (19 U.S.C. 1862), duties assessed pursuant to Section 201 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2251 et seq.), and duties assessed pursuant to Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2411 et seq.).
Unfortunately, while the government issued some form of relief, it appears our industry is not poised to benefit from it. Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns. Subscribe to the US Wine Trade Alliance to stay up to date on all matters surrounding the tariffs on wine.
