UPDATE! DEADLINE APPROACHING – WHY SHOULD YOUR PRODUCT NOT BE ON THE 301 LIST!

We have been working hard to keep you up to date on the current Trade War between the United States and China. For background on the Trade War see our previous blog post. This blog post sets out USTR’s actions in coordination with the Trump Administrations instructions. China took retaliatory actions against the United States in response to the first 301 list  of additional U.S. duties that became effective on July 6, 2018, which imposed an additional 25% duty on goods worth $34 Billion.

The most recent development of the trade dispute was announced on July 10, when the USTR was directed to consider levying a 25% tariff on these $200 billion worth of Chinese imports – thereby increasing the 10% to 25%. This third list is currently under review and will be open for written comments until September 6, 2018. Importers have the opportunity to affect the final version of this list by submitting comments or exclusion requests. Then, on August 7, USTR published the finalized second list of products being subjected to an additional 25% tariff. The proposed list covered 284 products, while the revised list covers only 279. On August 23, 2018, the second list of U.S. imposed tariffs went into effect. The U.S. imposed 25% tariffs on another $16 billion in Chinese goods, bringing the total of all 301 tariffs to $50 billion. China, once again, retaliated by imposing 25% tariffs on an equal amount of American goods and has threatened to retaliate any other new tariffs. Now You Have the Ability to Tell USTR Why Your Products Should NOT be on the 301 List. There are two opportunities to remove your product from the 301 list. USTR released a federal register notice entitled, “Request for Comments Concerning Proposed Modification of Action Pursuant to Section 301: China’s Acts, Policies, and Practices Related to Technology Transfer, Intellectual Property, and Innovation.” This request for comments permits interested parties to comment on their opposition to the additional 10% (or 25%) duty on products of China with an annual trade value of approximately $200 billion. The first is to submit a comment to USTR. USTR requests comments about any aspect of the proposed additional 10 % tariffs, including:

• The specific tariff subheadings to be subject to increased duties, including whether the subheadings listed in the Annex should be retained or removed, or whether subheadings not currently on the list should be added.
• The level of the increase, if any, in the rate of duty.
• The appropriate aggregate level of trade to be covered by additional duties.

The comment submission deadlines are rapidly approaching:

• August 13, 2018: The due date for filing requests to appear and a summary of expected testimony at the public hearing and for filing pre-hearing submissions is extended from July 27 to August 13, 2018.
• September 6, 2018: The due date for submission of written comments is extended from August 17 to September 6, 2018.
• August 20-23, 2018: The scheduled start date of the Section 301 hearing (August 20) has not changed. The Section 301 Committee may extend the length of the hearing depending on the number of additional interested persons who request to appear. The Section 301 Committee will convene the public hearing in the main hearing room of the U.S. International Trade Commission, 500 E Street SW Washington DC 20436 beginning at 9:30 am on August 20, 2018.
• September 6, 2018: The due date for submission of post-hearing rebuttal comments is extended from August 30 to September 6, 2018

In commenting on removal of particular tariff subheadings listed in the Annex, USTR requests that comments address specifically whether imposing increased duties on a particular product would be practicable or effective to obtain the elimination of China’s acts, policies, and practices, and whether maintaining or imposing additional duties on a particular product would cause disproportionate economic harm to U.S. interests, including small- or medium-size businesses and consumers.

• There are currently 2,407 comments For a comment to make a fruitful impact on USTR’s final decision, a comment should be drafted by an expert in the field. DTL can assist in ensuring your comment holds weight and is taken seriously by the USTR.

The second opportunity is by submitting a formal product exclusion request. USTR published a report describing the process and requirements for product exclusion requests. An importer must fill out a form and provide a basis and rationale for requesting the exclusion. If an exclusion request is approved, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection will apply the tariff exclusions based on the particular product, regardless of whether the importer filed a request. The exclusion process has the following important dates and features:

• The public will have 90 days to file a request for a product exclusion; the request period will end on October 9, 2018.
• Following public posting of the filed request on Regulations.gov, the public will have 14 days to file responses to the request for product exclusion.  After the close of the 14-day response period, interested persons will have an additional 7 days to reply to any responses received in support of or opposition to the request.
• Exclusions will be effective for one year upon the publication of the exclusion determination in the Federal Register, and will apply retroactively to July 6, 2018.

  The deadline for both the comments and the formal product exclusions are approaching! To start drafting your comment or filling out the formal product exclusion form, contact DTL TODAY at 305-456-3830 or info@diaztradelaw.com. Last updated August 28, 2018.