Bipartisan Letter to USTR Asks for Immediate Action on Section 301 Exclusions for Medical Goods
The evaluation of exclusion requests related to COVID-19 is too slow, two senators say, and they're asking that the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative eliminate duties on all imports covered by Section 301 that are needed to fight the…
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pandemic. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., and Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., sent a letter to USTR Robert Lighthizer April 20, asking him to “work with [Health and Human Services (HHS)], the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Department of Commerce, industry, and other relevant experts to develop a list of inputs, substitutes, machinery, and other products that U.S. companies need to meet the current demand for medical supplies, that will be subject to 301 tariff exemptions. U.S. companies must be able to access the materials needed to manufacture critical medical supplies without the added cost of 301 tariffs for the duration of the COVID-19 emergency, and they should not be subjected to the lengthy process of submitting tariff exemption requests for each individual input required to make products essential for addressing the ongoing pandemic. Time is of the essence, and these exclusions should be issued as soon as possible.”