The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative “properly exercised its authority” under the Section 307 modification provisions of the 1974 Trade Act when it ordered the imposition of the lists 3 and 4A Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports, the Court of International Trade ruled in an April 1 opinion. 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.

The Court of International Trade dealt a blow to the over 3,600 lawsuits challenging Lists 3 and 4A Section 301 China tariffs covering over $200 billion in goods, finding that the U.S. Trade Representative had the authority to impose the tariffs. In the highly-anticipated opinion, the court ruled against the plaintiffs' argument that the USTR could not impose Section 301 tariffs because the government was responding to retaliatory tariffs from China.

CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:​

Four rounds of Section 301 tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump on more than $400 billion worth of Chinese imports have “not incentivized China to change” its unfair trade practices as the former president intended, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai told a House Ways and Means Committee hearing Wednesday on the Biden administration's 2022 trade policy agenda. Rep. Tom Rice, R-S.C., had asked Tai what her plan was to “bring China to the table” and hold it accountable for the commitments it made under the February 2020 phase one trade agreement.

Senators on the committee that oversees trade pressed U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai repeatedly on why the administration isn't engaged in negotiations with other countries to get them to lower their tariffs, so that U.S. exporters, particularly agricultural producers, can gain more market share. Both Democrats and Republicans questioned the decision to pursue the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework as something other than a traditional free trade agreement,

The following lawsuits were recently filed at the Court of International Trade:

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai endorsed the Level the Playing Act during a four-hour hearing in front of the House Ways and Means Committee after one of its House sponsors noted the House and the Senate are about to go to conference, and the proposal to rewrite antidumping duty and countervailing duty laws is going to be on the table.

The following lawsuits were recently filed at the Court of International Trade:

Rep. Kevin Brady, the top Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, said that when Republicans meet privately with U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai ahead of her testimony March 30, they will argue that the Section 301 exclusions announced last week (see 2203230070) were far too limited.

The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of March 21-27: