The U.S. Chamber of Commerce objects to legislation meant to update antidumping and countervailing duty laws, it said in a letter to leadership of House Ways and Means Committee and its Trade Subcommittee. Soon after the Chamber sent its letter, lawmakers introduced the House version of the Eliminating Global Market Distortions to Protect American Jobs Act, the legislation that the Chamber has concerns about. "The Chamber opposes this bill, which has not been subject to the scrutiny and deliberation required for a complex, far-reaching measure amending U.S. AD/CVD laws," the Chamber said. "This major overhaul of U.S. trade laws could add to inflationary pressures by raising costs for a wide variety of goods, including many products sourced from U.S. allies and partners."
Section 301 tariff exclusions
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has established an exclusion process for Section 301 tariffs on China. In a series of rounds since the tariffs took effect, importers have been able to request exclusions from the tariffs, as well as extensions to existing exclusions. Many exclusions have been allowed to expire, as well. Section 301 exclusions are applicable to all importers of a given good, which may be defined as an entire tariff schedule subheading or a subset of a subheading outlined in a written description.
The Trump administration's tariffs caused "a lot of damage to American consumers and business" and "we are no better off" after the phase one deal with China, House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., said during a Dec. 2 roundtable with reporters. While not arguing that the Section 301 tariffs should be rolled back, he did say there should be an effort to "take them one by one and make some adjustments." He said there could be some Section 301 tariffs that could be changed without it being "politically toxic."
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Nov. 22-28:
The China package passed by the Senate -- which includes instructions to reopen Section 301 tariff exclusion applications, and a renewal of both the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program and the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill -- will go to a conference committee to reconcile the Senate bill with various pieces of House legislation, one of which changes the burden of proof on goods from Xinjiang. None of the House bills touches on tariffs, and none offers funding for chipmakers, a centerpiece of the Senate bill. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. had earlier planned to attach the China package to the must-past National Defense Authorization Act, but after Republican opposition, they decided this was a better way to get the House-Senate talks going.
The former minister counselor for trade affairs in the U.S. Embassy in Beijing told an audience that in the last few years, Chinese government officials "feel like they've outflanked us on the trade front." James Green, who was speaking on a Flexport webinar on the future of U.S.-China trade policy, said that officials were pleasantly surprised that the tariffs on most exports to the U.S. did not hurt their economy more. And, he said, between sealing the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and applying to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership, they also feel like they have other options for exporting when things with the U.S. sour.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will extend most of the exclusions from Section 301 China tariffs on goods used to treat COVID-19 for six months, it said in a notice posted on the agency's website. For the 81 exclusions being extended, the new expiration date is May 31, 2022. All the exclusions were slated to expire Nov. 14, but USTR is allowing a "transition period" and that expiration date will be Nov. 30, it said.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will extend the exclusions from Section 301 China tariffs on goods used to treat COVID-19 for six months, it said in a notice posted on the agency's website. The exclusions were set to expire Nov. 30, but USTR said it will extend the 99 product exclusions to May 31.
David Spooner, Washington counsel for the U.S. Fashion Industry Association, said that while the U.S. trade representative's China policy speech was underwhelming, he doesn't think the possibility of renewing 549 exclusions that expired at the end of last year will be the only olive branch to importers hurt by the China trade war. "Will we see other [expired] exclusions open to renewal? A new window open for exclusions? I hear 'yes.' When that will happen, and what that will look like, remains unclear," Spooner said at a virtual USFIA conference Nov. 9.
Tech companies and trade associations favor working more closely with U.S. trade partners to diversify information and communications technology (ICT) supply chains and make them more resilient to disruption and bottlenecks, several commented Nov. 4 in BIS-2021-0021. The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security sought comment to help the secretaries of Commerce and Homeland Security prepare a report to the White House on supply chain disruptions in the “critical sectors and subsectors” of the ICT “industrial base” by the one-year anniversary of President Joe Biden’s Feb. 24 executive order (see 2109170029).
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Oct. 25-31: