On August 11th, CSMS 43633412 was issued offering guidance on the new marking rules for goods made in Hong Kong. This CSMS stated, “A transition period (45 days) will be granted for importers to implement marking consistent with this position for imported goods produced in Hong Kong. Such goods, when entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption into the United States, after September 25, 2020 must be marked to indicate that their origin is “China†for purposes of 19 U.S.C. 1304.â€
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) clarified the practical effects of this change in regards to the determination of origin for the administration of Section 301 duties. Goods made in Hong Kong should be physically marked “Made in China†but the customs documents should show Hong Kong as the country of origin for the purposes of application of duty.
This action was scheduled to take effect fifteen days after the order, which was July 29th, 2020, but has been moved to September 25th. Please be sure to review your country of origin marking on the physical products and internal databases prior to the effective date.
CBP has published a Frequently Asked Questions article on this topic.
We will continue to follow this story as the implementation nears.