USTR Files Official Notification of 15%, Rather Than 10%, Tariff for List 4
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will publish a notice in the Federal Register Aug. 30 that says that List 4 products under the Section 301 action will face an additional 15 percent tariff, not 10 percent, as earlier announced. President Donald Trump had tweeted this change four days ago (see 1908230059). The change in the rate does not affect the dates the goods will face the tariff. One group of products, nearly 3,800 8-digit tariff lines, will be taxed starting Sept. 1; consumer electronics largely will wait until Dec. 15.
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The notice only addresses the fourth tranche tariff rate changes, and not the increased rate for the other three tranches that Trump said would go up to 30 percent on Oct. 1. Also not mentioned in the notice is the exclusion process for that fourth tranche.
The earlier fourth tranche public notice said the agency was authorized to go as high as 25 percent. The notice says that this hike is justified because instead of changing its technology transfer and intellectual property policies, China is hiking retaliatory tariffs "to maintain those unfair acts, policies, and practices."