COVID-19 Webinar: Protect Your Bottom Line – Relief from China 301 duties and a 90-day tariff deferral

Speakers: Rich Harper, Manager of International Trade, Outdoor Industry Association
Nicole Schude, Of Counsel, Sorini Samet & Associates
Megan Costello, Vice President, Trade & Customs Policy, Sorini Samet & Associates

As they deal with the COVID-19 crisis, outdoor companies may be able to utilize two programs to secure much-needed tariff relief.

If you are a U.S. importer of an impacted product, you could be eligible for retroactive duty refunds from the China 301 tariffs. The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has granted many product-specific exclusions from these duties, and many requests are still pending. If your product is eligible, additional action needs to be taken to ensure your ability to obtain a full retroactive refund.

Additionally, the Trump administration announced last week that it would grant a 90-day deferral on all tariffs, taxes and fees on a select group of products imported into the U.S. in March and April of 2020 for companies impacted by COVID-19.

Learn how your company can utilize these programs to protect your bottom line.

COVID-19 Webinar: Insurance Coverage for Outdoor Retailers and Manufacturing Companies

Speaker: Perkins Coie LLP

Coronavirus loss estimates are already in the billions of dollars for retailers and tourism companies as state lockdowns are implemented and more retail chains are forced to shutter doors, send workers home and look for solutions to supply chain deficiencies. Are the losses covered? Unfortunately, it depends.

In this webinar, we will walk through business insurance policies that may provide coverage for coronavirus losses, including business interruption and contingent business interruption coverages, several standard property insurance coverage extensions, supply chain and trade disruption policies, cargo marine policies, event cancellation policies, liability policies and more. The speakers will identify what language your policy needs to contain (or not contain) for coverage to attach and will provide practical advice on what records companies should gather now to assist in any future insurance claims. In addition, the speakers will discuss when companies should provide notice or notice of circumstances under their current policies.

OIA CALLS FOR 90-DAY DEFERRAL ON TARIFF PAYMENTS: TAKE ACTION TODAY TO HELP

Last week, OIA continued its efforts to secure relief for small outdoor businesses during the COVID-19 outbreak, including an urgent call to the Trump administration to lift all punitive tariffs on outdoor apparel, footwear and equipment sourced from China. We greatly appreciate those who have joined us by sending letters to their congressional representatives in support of this effort.

Now, we are calling on the administration to support a deferral of duty payments on imports for at least 90 days to provide much-needed liquidity to outdoor companies and help them preserve jobs and stay in business. Such action is consistent with the three-month delay on filing of personal and corporate income tax returns which has already been instituted.
TAKE ACTION

Outdoor companies already face import tariffs of about 14 percent, on average, and as high as 37.5 percent. Many outdoor companies are paying punitive tariffs of 10 or 25 percent on top of those on affected products sourced from China. A deferral of tariff payments on imports would help outdoor companies, particularly small businesses, address serious cash-flow issues during this challenging time when retail outlets have closed and manufacturers have shut down due to COVID-19.

Once again, we need your help. Please reach out to your representatives and senators and urge them to Take Action to join OIA and support a deferral on tariff payments for at least 90 days. You action will help outdoor companies get back to what they do best: developing new, innovative outdoor gear to enhance the outdoor experience and get more Americans outdoors.

You can also still contact your congressional representatives and urge them to support lifting punitive tariffs on outdoor products sourced from China.

OIA has taken a series of actions to help outdoor companies manage the COVID-19 outbreak:

  • OIA signed letters organized by the Americans for Free Trade coalition to the president and the House Ways and Means Committee urging the administration to lift all punitive China 301 tariffs.
  • OIA submitted comments to the House Ways and Means Committee outlining the negative impact of the China 301 punitive tariffs on outdoor companies and calling for them to be removed.

We will continue to keep you updated on our advocacy work. In the meantime, join us, Thursday, April 2, at 11:00 a.m. (MT) for an informative webinar presented by Monument Advocacy on how the latest COVID-19 stimulus package will impact outdoor businesses.