Chinese Vice Premier Liu Guozhong met with Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Celeste Saulo on Monday in Beijing.
Liu, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said the Chinese government attaches great importance to global meteorological cooperation and has issued "MAZU," the Chinese solution for national early warning, to support the implementation of the Early Warning for All Initiative launched by the United Nations.
China will continue to support the WMO in playing a leading role in global meteorological governance, and make greater contributions to promoting the building of a community with a shared future for humankind, Liu said.
Saulo spoke highly of China's meteorological development and remarkable achievements in disaster prevention and mitigation, and expressed the willingness to further deepen cooperation with China.
Chinese vice premier meets WMO chief
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Monday launched the first phase of a new claims system that will allow importers to seek repayment of tariffs collected under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
Companies and their customs brokers can submit refund requests through CBP's Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) portal using a newly developed tool known as the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries, or CAPE, starting Monday.
Once a claim is validated, CBP will recalculate the duties without the IEEPA tariffs and reliquidate the entries, triggering repayment. The refunds will be paid directly to the businesses that originally paid the tariffs, local media reported Monday.
Valid refunds will generally be issued within 60 to 90 days after a claim is accepted, CBP said, though more complex cases could take longer.
CBP is rolling out the refund process in phases. Court filings show that more than 330,000 importers paid duties on over 53 million shipments, totaling roughly 166 billion U.S. dollars.
The Supreme Court ruled in February that U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs under IEEPA are unconstitutional. It is Congress, not the president, that holds authority over such taxes.
Following the ruling, a judge at the U.S. Court of International Trade directed CBP to remove the tariffs from affected entries and refund any excess duties collected, along with interest.
U.S. gov't begins refunding tariffs to businesses
U.S. gov't begins refunding tariffs to businesses
