USTR, in 4-Year Review, to Mail Solicitations to Backers of Lists 1, 2 Tariffs
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is opening dockets in each of two 60-day “time windows” for submission of “requests for continuation” of the Lists 1 and 2 Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports by the four-year anniversaries of when each round of duties took effect, says a notice for Thursday’s Federal Register. The tariffs would face possible termination under the 1974 Trade Act if USTR doesn't receive a single continuation request, which trade experts say is extremely unlikely (see 2205030013).
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The window for the List 1 tariffs that took effect July 6, 2018, opens Saturday and closes July 5 at USTR’s comments portal, comments.ustr.gov/s/, says the notice. For List 2, which took effect Aug. 23, 2018, the window opens June 24 and closes Aug. 22, it says. The statute says the continuation requests should be submitted by “representatives of domestic industries which benefit from the trade actions,” says the notice.
If the tariffs stay intact past their four-year anniversary dates as a result of one or more continuation requests, USTR will proceed with the next phase of the review, which “will provide opportunities for public comments from all interested parties,” says the notice. Details of that second phase “will be announced in one or more subsequent notices,” it says.
USTR “subsequently modified” the Lists 1 and 2 actions by imposing “additional duties on supplemental lists” of products (Lists 3 and 4A) under its Trade Act Section 307 modification authority, says the notice. Section 301 test-case plaintiffs HMTX Industries and Jasco Products, plus the more than 3,600 complaints that followed, sought to vacate the tariffs on grounds that Lists 3 and 4A were unlawful without USTR launching a new Section 301 investigation that formed the legal basis of the Lists 1 and 2 tariffs. But a three-judge panel at the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled April 1 that USTR “properly exercised” its Section 307 modification authority when it ordered the imposition of Lists 3 and 4A (see 2204010059).
In its four-year review, USTR “will examine the July 6, 2018, action, as modified, and August 23, 2018, action, as modified,” says the notice. “To ensure comprehensive coverage of the review, USTR will consider the List 3 and List 4A modifications as applicable to both the July 6, 2018, action and August 23, 2018, action.” List 3 took effect Sept. 24, 2018, and List 4A, Sept. 1, 2019.
USTR also is “mailing notices to interested parties that previously submitted comments on the dockets in the investigation expressing support for the actions under Section 301 or subsequent modifications under Section 307,” says the notice. “A request to continue the action should identify the specific industry concerned and should address how the domestic industry benefits” from the Lists 1 and 2 tariffs, it says. Continuation requests won’t be posted immediately, “but will be summarized in the notices announcing whether the two trade actions under Section 301 will be continued,” it says.
In the second phase of the review, USTR “intends to open a separate portal for interested persons to submit comments” on Lists 1 and 2, says the notice. The public comments should address “the effectiveness of the action in achieving the objectives of Section 301, other actions that could be taken, and the effects of such actions on the United States economy, including consumers,” it says.
The first phase of the review is not the time or place to protest the continuation of the tariffs, said a USTR FAQ. “USTR is following the procedure mandated by the 4-year review statute,” it said. In the second phase of the review, “any interested person may provide their views, including with respect to whether duties should be maintained at the conclusion of the review process,” it said.
USTR Katherine Tai left the door slightly open to reevaluating the tariffs in light of record inflation. “We need to be looking at our economic policy tools across the board” to curb inflation, she told the Milken Institute Global Conference Monday. “You want to look at tariffs? Sure, let’s look at tariffs. But also, let’s look at monetary policy, fiscal policy, let’s look at tax policy. All of these tools you need to look at."