The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative released a notice May 3 that asks companies that benefit from the Section 301 tariffs on List 1 to tell USTR if they think the tariffs should continue. They can comment May 7 to July 5. Companies that benefit from the tariffs on List 2 can comment June 24 to Aug. 22.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative released a notice asking if any companies that benefited from the Section 301 tariffs would like those tariffs continue. If no company benefited, the tariffs would end July 6, said the agency. If requests for continuation are submitted, the USTR will review the tariffs. During that review, opponents to the tariffs will also have the opportunity to be heard, it said. Another notice will be posted after July 6, the four-year anniversary of the tariffs on Chinese imports.
The top Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, who will be one of the negotiators for the compromise China package, expressed pessimism that a version of the bill can be found that can get a majority vote in both the House and Senate. The Senate passed its version, the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, with 67 votes; the House version, known as the Competes Act, only had one Republican on board.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
Among the 28 motions to instruct for negotiations that will be considered next Tuesday and Wednesday in the Senate, five would affect trade, including one that supports the establishment of an inspector general for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of April 18-24:
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While the treasury secretary has said before that some of the tariffs on Chinese goods hurt America more than they hurt China (see 2107190046), and the U.S. trade representative has defended them, the White House has now said that the administration's review of its China trade policy is taking inflation into account.
With negotiations expected to begin in earnest soon on the House and Senate's trade packages, staffers in both chambers of Congress say there could be support for antidumping and countervailing duty reform and language around Section 301 tariff exclusions, but the likelihood of a dramatic de minimis change seems somewhat remote.
Functionality for five reinstated Section 301 exclusions in ACE will not be available until April 26, CBP said in a CSMS message. Due to an error in programming, ACE is still not permitting the filing of Chapter 99 duty or exclusion subheadings for tariff schedule numbers 0505.10.0050, 8412.21.0045, 8483.50.9040, 8525.60.1010 and 8607.21.1000, CBP said. Importers that entered goods subject to Section 301 tariffs under those five subheadings on or after April 12 without an associated Chapter 99 Section 301 subheading should file a post-summary correction once ACE filing capabilities are restored for the subheadings April 26, CBP said.