The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), is accepting comments on the proposed expansion of Section 301 duties to a 4th list of Products of Chinese origin.
This proposal affects $300 billion of annual trade value, and would carry an additional duty rate of up to 25%.
This list covers essentially all those products not already covered on List 1, 2, or 3, but excludes pharmaceuticals, certain pharmaceutical inputs, select medical goods, rare earth materials, and critical minerals.
List 4 includes 3,794 8-digit tariffs and 18 10-digit tariffs.
As with List 1, 2, and 3, any merchandise entering a U.S. Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) after the effective date, would need to enter under ‘privileged foreign status, except those eligible for admission under ‘domestic status’.
The USTR is accepting comments on this proposal, with below dates:
- June 10, 2019: Due date for filing requests to appear at the public hearing.
- June 17, 2019: Due date for submission of written comments*.
- June 17, 2019: Public hearing by the Section 301 Committee at the U.S. International Trade Commission, in Washington DC.
- Seven days after the last day of the public hearing: Due date for submission of post-hearing rebuttal comments.
*Comments will be accepted regarding:
- The specific tariff subheading included, and whether any should be retained, removed, or added. Commentators should specifically address whether increased duties on a particular product would be effective in eliminating China’s acts, policies and practices; as well as the impact of any economic harm to U.S interests, including small or medium size businesses and consumers.
- The rate or duty to be imposed.
- The appropriate aggregate level of trade to be covered by additional duties.
Additional duties could be imposed after these dates, likely sometime in July 2019.
Section 301 additional duties apply to certain Chinese origin product, and were initiated due to China’s acts, policies, and practices related to technology transfer, intellectual property, and innovation, which threaten the long-term competitiveness of the U.S.
Please see Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP’s) Section 301 HTSUS Reference Guide for a list of previous affected tariffs under List 1, 2, and 3. List 1 was effective July 6, 2018; List 2 was effective August 23, 2018; and List 3 was effective Sep 24, 2018. All lists now impose a 25% additional duty (but List 3 products entered and exported prior to May 10, 2019, carried only a 10% additional duty rate).
List 1 also has had 4 rounds of exclusions granted. No exclusions for list 2 and 3 have yet been approved. (Approved exclusion requests are announced periodically.)
Please see our previous Trade News articles for List 1 exclusions:
- 4th Tranche of Exclusions Issued on Chinese Origin Section 301 for List 1
- Section 301 Exclusions for Chinese Origin Goods,
- 87 More Exclusions Granted for Section 301 List One Chinese Origin Goods, and
- 21 New Exclusions Granted for Chinese Origin Section 301 List One Products
Due to the U.S. raising duty rates for List 3 products from 10% to 25% on May 10, 2019, China issued retaliatory tariffs on $60 billion of U.S. origin products imported into China, which are set to go into effect on June 1, 2019.
President Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping will meet again at the G20 Summit scheduled for June 28-29 in Osaka, Japan.
If you have any questions regarding the status of the Section 301 exclusions, Livingston can help! Please contact either your Livingston account manager or our regulatory affairs group at usregaffairs@livingstonintl.com