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July 5, 2022

REMINDER: Second Batch Of Comments On Potential End To China Tariffs Due August 22

As Connecting the Dots reported in May, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) is taking comments on whether it should end Section 301 tariffs imposed on products from China.

The notice launching the inquiry is here. Click here to review the products to which these penalties apply.

According to news reports, the Biden administration is strongly considering ending some of the Section 301 penalties due to concerns about rising inflation. When launching the inquiry, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai promised the review process would be “robust,” designed to collect a wide range of comments from industry stakeholders, and would assess potential economic impacts.

The process that USTR outlined includes different comment periods, comment period deadlines, and phases for the USTR to review and decide whether and which tariffs should be extended. Specifically, USTR collected industry comments on the first batch of Chinese industrial imports valued at $34 billion until July 5, 2022 and will collect on a second batch covering $16 billion in imports from June 24 to August 22, 2022.

As this article in The National Law Review explains, “Under Section 301, the president has the authority to impose tariffs on imports to counter trade practices that the U.S. Trade Representative finds either to violate or conflict with a trade agreement or to burden or restrict U.S. commerce unjustifiably.” The article also notes the current review process “may result in significant changes to the Section 301 tariffs on a wide range of products from China” and advised “importers and others affected by these tariffs … to consider filing written comments.”

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