A letter sent Oct. 15 to United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer calls for a process that would allow U.S. companies to request an exclusion from tariffs imposed on $200 billion of Chinese imports. MEMA, which has been a vocal advocate for a clear and efficient exclusion process, says it “applauds and supports the letter.”
The bipartisan letter was signed by U.S. Representatives Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.) and Ron Kind (D-Wis.) along with 167 other legislators.
“An exclusion process is vital to ensuring that U.S. companies can seek relief in the event that there are no alternative suppliers or if special circumstances exist that could harm their ability to compete in the global marketplace,” the letter says. “The process should be fact-based, with criteria specified in the Federal Register for companies to meet to qualify for an exclusion.”
Read the full letter here.
In March 2018, President Donald Trump announced actions against China to impose tariffs on billions of dollars’ worth of imports (USTR Press Release). These tariffs are based on findings of IP theft and technology transfer in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative’s (USTR) Section 301 investigation report. These tariffs are one of a set of various planned remedies. To date, three trenches of tariffs have been applied to nearly $500 billion of goods from China.
