International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., one of the primary movers behind the Chips Act, told an audience that more domains need policymakers' attention so that they don't wake up to find that China has become dominant in an important emerging technology. He noted that before becoming a politician, he "was in the telecommunication space," and said that realizing that China is dominating 5G with two heavily subsidized champion companies was the "final wake-up call" that engagement and deeper trade with China is not the right way to go.
The early submissions to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on whether the 7.5% and 25% tariffs on Chinese goods should continue were heavily against continuing the action. More than 90% of the 27 submissions either said end all the tariffs or urged dropping the ones that affect businesses or workers.
Exclusions from Section 301 China tariffs for 81 medical care products related to COVID-19 will be extended until the end of February 2023, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said in a pre-publication notice released Nov. 23. The exclusions had been set to expire Nov. 30.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is extending exclusions from Section 301 China tariffs for 81 products related to the COVID-19 pandemic through February 2023, it said in a notice released Nov. 23. The exclusions, originally granted Dec. 29, 2020, were scheduled to expire Nov. 30, USTR said. “In light of the continuing efforts to combat COVID, the exclusions have been extended for an additional 90 days, through February 28, 2023,” USTR said in an emailed announcement.
A report from Republicans on the Joint Economic Committee in Congress said that while the Federal Reserve is doing the right thing to drive down inflation, Congress should act to remove Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports, and Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum. "These 2018-2020 era tariffs are currently in effect on $280 billion of U.S. imports, imposing a $50 billion annual cost burden on U.S. producers and consumers that use imported goods. Estimates suggest that removing recently imposed tariffs on imports from China, steel and aluminum imports, and Canadian lumber imports could deliver a one-time inflation reduction of 1.3 percentage point," the report said. There is no mechanism for Congress to roll back the softwood lumber duties, as they are antidumping and countervailing duties. However, the U.S. used to lower the trade remedies when the cost of lumber rose above certain thresholds.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Nov. 14-20:
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation says the Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports have been fruitless, and antidumping and countervailing duty laws also are inadequate to counter the wide variety of abuses from China -- industrial espionage, forced technology transfer, discrimination against foreign sales in China, as well as enormous subsidies. "It is time for the U.S. government, ideally working with allies, to craft and implement a new set of trade defense instruments," ITIF Founder Robert Atkinson wrote in a white paper released Nov. 21.
Seventeen styles of fabrics are not excluded from 10% Section 301 duties because they do not qualify as microfibers or microdeniers, CBP said in a Sept. 8 ruling, recently released publicly.