EDEN PRAIRIE, MN - With the end of the year approaching, global logistics company C.H. Robinson is set on ensuring that the industry is at the top of its game. C.H. recently revealed that U.S. companies importing from China could be missing out on more than a billion dollars in refunds via Section 301 tariff exclusions. The vast majority of these refund opportunities, which have continued to be updated since 301 tariffs were implemented as a result of the U.S.-China trade war, are set to expire on December 31.

“The U.S.-China trade war has added another layer of complexity to what has been a challenging global transportation market over the past year,” said Mike Short, President of Global Forwarding. “As we have consulted with businesses of all sizes, it’s clear that the biggest barriers to duty recovery for these companies are a lack of time, data, and expertise to navigate the complex and lengthy application process.”

According to the press release, with two-thirds of Chinese imported goods subject to 301 tariffs, businesses both large and small may be leaving millions on the table if they don’t take action. Since 301 tariffs were implemented in 2018, C.H. Robinson has identified potential savings for its customers of roughly $980 million related to exclusion refunds, with 96 percent of them being product-specific which require a more complex, time-consuming analysis for qualification.

C.H. Robinson has already assisted hundreds of U.S. importers in navigating the complexity of these tariffs and exclusions along with providing duty recovery and compliance consulting. As noted in the press release, C.H. Robinson is providing expertise companies can rely on and shaving off critical time in a complex and lengthy refund recovery process so that companies can focus on maximizing operations while still accessing savings for which they qualify.

On their own, a U.S. importer would first need to see if their Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) codes qualify for any one of the specific 301 exclusions and then go through the time-consuming act of comparing their specific products against the product-specific exclusions. With its global trade experts and single, multimodal, global technology platform Navisphere^®, C.H. Robinson reduces this time-intensive process by running data comparisons and analysis that delivers strategic recommendations to maximize refund potential for its customers.

“With our global suite of services and technology built by and for supply chain experts, we help customers cut through the clutter, save time by automating processes, and maximize refund potential,” Short explained. “This is especially important now as the pandemic has so many businesses seeking cost savings.”

Throughout the trade war and the onset of the pandemic—which accelerated the rate of exclusion updates—C.H. Robinson has helped companies of all sizes submit for hundreds of millions in savings. To help even more customers navigate the latest tariff challenges and opportunities, C.H. Robinson announced today the launch of Trade & Tariff Insights, which is a digital one-stop-shop for ongoing updates and insights on the latest in trade issues.

For more information, click here for the full press release.

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C.H. Robinson