On May 13, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) released a proposed fourth Section 301 tariff list of approximately $300 billion worth of imports from China that may be subject to additional tariffs.
The notice includes 3,805 product categories that could be subject to an additional tariff of up to 25% ad valorem. This list covers essentially all imports from China that are not currently covered on a previous Section 301 list.
USTR is conducting a full review of the proposed action through a comment and hearing process. After completion of the full review, USTR will issue a final notice on the products subject to the tariffs.
Key dates and deadlines:
• June 10, 2019 – Due date for filing requests to appear and summary of expected testimony at public hearing
• June 17, 2019 – Due date for submission of written comments
• June 17, 2019 at 9:30 a.m. – Public hearing at the U.S. International Trade Commission in Washington, D.C.
The timing of the comment period would allow President Trump to impose tariffs around the time he attends the G20 leaders’ summit with Chinese President Xi.
The proposed action is the fourth round of tariffs released by USTR in response to Section 301 investigation findings on China’s unfair trade practices related to forced technology transfer.
On its end, China this week announced plans to raise tariffs on $60 billion of U.S. goods as retaliation to the U.S. decision to hike tariffs on Chinese goods, the Chinese Finance Ministry announced May 13.
Beijing will increase tariffs on more than 5,000 products to as high as 25%, and duties on other goods will increase to 20%.
