Trade policy in regard to China should prioritize technology issues and establish “benchmarks for a phased rollback of Section 301 tariffs,” the Information Technology Industry Council wrote In a 17-page March 30 letter to U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai. “Simultaneously, we encourage you to move swiftly on your hearing commitment to ensure a transparent, predictable, and rapid process for tariff exclusions to alleviate the harm to American workers and consumers.”
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 following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of March 22-28:
On the same day that 37 trade associations worked to draw attention to a renewed push to eliminate Section 232 tariffs, a left of center think tank published a paper disagreeing with the arguments that the Tariff Reform Coalition is making, that steel and aluminum sanctions cost more jobs in manufacturing than they saved at primary steel producers.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of March 15-21:
When members of Congress had the opportunity to publicly tout their priorities for legislation this year at the House Ways and Means Committee, most of the Democrats emphasized social spending and ending the cap on state and local tax deductions on personal income taxes more than traditional infrastructure projects. Only one Republican, Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, spoke at the March 23 hearing, to say that Republicans would boycott the hearing because holding a hearing without any expert witnesses was just a cover for “another multi-trillion, one-sided spending bill.”
Litigants challenging lists 3 and 4A Section 301 tariffs have a “difficult hill to climb” in making a compelling case for why the tariffs should be lifted, a lawyer said. Speaking March 11 on a panel at Georgetown Law's 2021 International Trade Update on the courts' role in tariffs, Bradford Ward of King & Spalding called out the central claim used by one of the litigants: that the law does not permit the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to increase tariffs, only to “delay, taper or terminate such actions.” In the same provision of that law, modification of tariffs is authorized when the burden on U.S. commerce has increased or decreased, meaning the agency can increase or decrease tariffs, said Ward, who used to work at USTR and now represents domestic industry. “It would be illogical, from my perspective, for the statute to prohibit an increase in tariffs while recognizing the ability of USTR to modify via an increase in the burden. It doesn't seem coherent,” Ward said.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of March 1-7:
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from March 1-5 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The recent focus on forced labor has also created some trade facilitation problems, both of which appear unlikely to go away under the Biden administration, said Paul Rosenthal, a lawyer with Kelley Drye, during the virtual International Trade Update hosted by Georgetown Law on March 9. Rosenthal was asked about the corporate compliance difficulties following CBP forced labor enforcement actions, particularly in countries that the company isn't directly connected to. “The shift has been away from concern about U.S. manufacturing interests to social interests” involving child and forced labor, he said. “And I don't see that shifting. In fact, I see that continuing and accelerating and I think one the big issues” for the administration “will be how to balance those interests,” he said
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will extend exclusions on goods used to treat COVID-19 from the Section 301 tariffs on goods from China, the USTR said in a notice on its website. The exclusions were previously set to expire at the end of March (see 2012230076).