As White House Delays on Tariff Deferrals, Lobbying for and Against Continues
As importers wait to hear whether duties can be deferred for 90 days after goods enter the U.S., voices for and against the proposal are speaking out. Reports have said that the deferral would be on most favored nation (MFN), but not sections 301, 232 or 201 actions. President Donald Trump has been coy about whether he will support such a move, or when (see 2004010047).
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Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, a longtime free trade skeptic, wrote to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on April 1 to tell him that while he is pleased that medical goods subject to Section 301 tariffs will no longer have the additional duties, he opposes waiving MFN tariffs on clothing and fabric. He said that giving importers the option of paying tariffs on shirts or skirts later “will undermine American manufacturers’ efforts to produce the personal protective equipment (PPE) and medical supplies frontline healthcare workers desperately need.”
His letter echoed one the day before from the domestic textile industry. “I urge you not to reduce any tariffs on unrelated items that would inhibit efforts to establish a PPE and medical supply chain in the U.S.,” he wrote. “Now is not the time to undermine American manufacturers and their workers, particularly those who are stepping up to help during the public health emergency.”
At the same time Brown was urging the administration to abandon the idea, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said doing so would help businesses big and small with liquidity.
Chamber Vice President Myron Brilliant said, in a statement: “There’s never a bad time to embrace good policy, and tariff relief would provide some welcome breathing room for American businesses and consumers. ... In addition, the Chamber continues to urge USTR to automatically extend all the exclusions to the Section 301 tariffs that are slated to lapse in the coming months.”