American Association of Exporters & Importers, of which National Association of Beverage Importers is a member, urged President Trump to provide “immediate and substantial relief to American businesses.” Among its recommendations:
- Delay USMCA implementation until Jan. 1 to allow importers and exporters to focus exclusively on operational impacts of Covid-19.
- Extend payment of all customs, duties, taxes and fees to 90 days from 30 days, similar to the delay in paying income taxes to the Internal Revenue Service to improve cash flow for American businesses during this national emergency.
- Extend the time for companies to respond to all “paper based” processing deadlines, regulatory notices and actions issued by federal regulatory agencies.
- Relax export controls and import regulatory requirements for essential products.
- Suspend all Section 232 (steel and aluminum) and Section 301 duties on goods from all countries. The Airbus duties on wine and spirits are under a Section 301 authority. The Section 232 duties impose operational costs on the beer industry.