Late on July 10, 2018, U.S. Trade Representative Lighthizer released a list of the next Chinese-made products targeted for additional duties, this time at a 10% rate and worth about $200 billion. The statement in support of this action can be found here, and the list of affected products here. As before, the list of products is released in Federal Register pre-publication format.
The dates to keep in mind are as follows…
- July 27, 2018: Due date for filing requests to appear and a summary of expected testimony at the public hearing, and for filing pre-hearing submissions;
- August 17, 2018: Due date for submission of written comments;
- August 20 – 23, 2018: Public hearing;
- August 30, 2018: Due date for submission of post-hearing rebuttal comments.
This new List 3 bears Docket No. USTR-2018-0026. If you are considering filing comments, keep in mind USTR wants to hear about “whether imposing increased duties on a particular product would be practicable or effective to obtain elimination of China’s acts, policies, and practices, and whether maintaining or imposing additional duties on a particular product would cause disproportionate economic harm to U.S. interests, including small- or medium-sized businesses and consumers.”
USTR has also published the form to be used by companies seeking exclusion from the China 301 List 1 tariffs, see China 301 Exclusion Request Form. At this point, the objection and reply forms have not been published. Companies considering seeking an exclusion will want to consider the same factors which have been material throughout these proceedings:
- Can the product be sourced only in China?
- If other sourcing is available, is there sufficient production?
- Any exclusion request will have to be based on more than there being a price difference.
- Is there a national security consideration? And,
- Any other pertinent factors.
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