Tariffs & Customs

CBP published a final rule on October 22, 2026 moving formal-entry compliance for covered international mail shipments to January 20, 2027. A companion notice lets filers use Entry Type 13 without complete partner agency data while a broader low-value shipments rule moves through comment.

The EU’s €2 per-item handling fee on parcels from outside the bloc is set to start on November 1, stacking on the €3 duty in force since July. Latvia’s customs authority confirmed the date as the window for EU lawmakers to object closes.

A New Jersey food importer has asked the US Court of International Trade to void the 50% Section 338 tariffs on Canadian goods and refund duties with interest for a proposed class of importers. It is the first court test of a 1930 law no president had used to impose tariffs before 2026.

A three-month grace period on CBP’s rewritten mail rules ends on October 22, forcing parcels with partner agency requirements or Chapter 98 and Chapter 99 duties out of the postal informal entry process. A proposed rule published October 8 would make the architecture permanent at a cost CBP puts at $9.3bn.

A US trade court certified a class of importers on October 8, opening a route to roughly $11bn of IEEPA tariff refunds for companies that never filed suit. The order does not pay anyone yet, and a government appeal is still live at the Federal Circuit.

USTR confirmed on October 7 that the 2018 Section 301 actions against China did not terminate on their four-year anniversaries and will remain in force. The decision lands 33 days before 178 product exclusions are scheduled to expire at 11:59 p.m. Eastern on November 9, 2026.

Levi Strauss recorded about $80 million of IEEPA tariff refunds in its third quarter of fiscal 2026, lifting gross margin to 66.2% and full-year adjusted EPS guidance to $1.54 to $1.56 per share. Revenue missed and direct-to-consumer comparable sales were flat, and the stock fell almost 5%.

India’s 150 percent wine import tariff starts falling on October 20, 2026, when the New Zealand-India trade agreement enters into force, but only above a US$5 per bottle threshold. Three months of flat Scotch prices since the UK deal show state excise, not customs duty, decides what Indian shoppers pay.

Britain is drawing up its first tariff on Chinese electric cars, with ministers reported willing to match the EU effective ceiling of about 45 percent. The pressure comes from Brussels and its Made in EU content rules, not from British carmakers.