ViewSonic is the latest tech importer to join the massive Section 301 litigation seeking to get the U.S. Court of International Trade to declare the List 3 and 4A Chinese tariffs unlawful under the 1974 Trade Act and 1946 Administrative Procedure Act and get the paid duties refunded. ViewSonic also is among the growing list of complainants arguing the tariffs violate constitutional protections on federal revenue collection and the Fifth Amendment’s due process clause. The ViewSonic action is unusual for its use of four fallback claims of timeliness on the filing of Thursday's complaint (in Pacer), all tied to the two-year anniversaries of different Customs and Border Protection liquidation dates on PC monitor import entries. Court rules require plaintiffs to file their cases within two years after "the cause of action first accrues."

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai met virtually with Vietnam Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh, highlighting the Biden administration’s “concerns” about Hanoi’s “currency practices covered in the ongoing Section 301 investigation,” said her agency Thursday. She and Anh committed to meeting later this year “to assess progress made in strengthening the trade relationship and in resolving outstanding bilateral issues,” it said. It was the first apparent signal that President Joe Biden's administration intends to keep U.S. allegations of Vietnam’s currency manipulation actively on the table. Tai’s predecessor, Robert Lighthizer, opted not to impose remedial tariffs on Vietnam imports in the remaining days of the Donald Trump administration for Hanoi’s allegedly improper devaluation of the dong against the dollar, but he did find Vietnam’s practices “actionable” under Section 301, leaving it up to the next administration to “continue to evaluate all available options” (see 2101150052). Vietnam generated 19% of all smartphone imports to the U.S. in 2020, plus 5% of laptops and tablets and 24% of TVs under 35 inches, which were in especially high demand last year during the pandemic.

A pair of Wisconsin congressmen re-sent a letter on Section 301 exclusions to U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, arguing that it was unfair to let exclusions expire in cases where there was still no source of the good outside China. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wis., said they didn't understand how the office could grant an exclusion because the good is only available from China and because the duties would cause severe economic harm to the importer, but then not renew the exclusion a year later, when the factors are unchanged. They publicized the letter in an April 2 press release. Tai has not said whether the office will offer more Section 301 exclusions, but has said that if there is an exclusion process, it will be transparent.

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, in a video call April 1 with Vietnam's trade minister, Tran Tuan Anh, “highlighted the Biden Administration’s concerns about currency practices covered in the ongoing Section 301 investigation,” according to a readout of the call. In a tweet after the call, Tai said, “I ... urged Vietnam to address U.S. concerns on currency practices covered in the Section 301 investigation.” Tai said the two committed to increased collaboration, and plan to hold a meeting later this year under the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement “to assess progress made in strengthening the trade relationship and in resolving outstanding bilateral issues,” which also include agricultural market access, digital trade and illegal timber trafficking.

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, in a video call April 1 with Vietnam's trade minister, Tran Tuan Anh, “highlighted the Biden Administration’s concerns about currency practices covered in the ongoing Section 301 investigation,” according to a readout of the call. In a tweet after the call, Tai said, “I ... urged Vietnam to address U.S. concerns on currency practices covered in the Section 301 investigation.” Tai said the two committed to increased collaboration, and plan to hold a meeting later this year under the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement “to assess progress made in strengthening the trade relationship and in resolving outstanding bilateral issues,” which also include agricultural market access, digital trade and illegal timber trafficking.

Few surprises emerged in the latest procedural order Wednesday, in which the three-judge panel presiding over the massive Section 301 litigation inundating the U.S. Court of International Trade order dispensed with most of the last remaining case management housekeeping items (see 2103310062). The order enables the true litigation to get started, after months of delay. Importers are suing to vacate the List 3 and 4A tariff rulemakings on Chinese imports and get the paid duties refunded, alleging violations of the 1974 Trade Act and 1946 Administrative Procedure Act (APA).

Trade policy on China should prioritize technology issues and set “benchmarks" for a "phased rollback" of Trade Act Section 301 tariffs, the Information Technology Industry Council wrote new U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai Tuesday. It encouraged Tai to "move swiftly" on the commitment she made at her Senate Finance Committee confirmation hearing to install "a transparent, predictable, and rapid process for tariff exclusions.” Reforming the tariff exclusions process would be "very high on my radar" if confirmed, Tai told the committee (see 2102250043). Noting USTR has investigated the digital services taxes policies of several U.S. trade partners, the group asked the agency “to discourage further proliferation of such measures.” USTR didn't comment Wednesday, and ITI didn't answer our queries about whether it got a response from the agency. The Chinese tariffs are “there to be punitive,” rather than to stop China’s allegedly unfair trade practices, ITI CEO Jason Oxman told us in January (see 2011090043).

Trade policy on China should prioritize technology issues and set “benchmarks" for a "phased rollback" of Trade Act Section 301 tariffs, the Information Technology Industry Council wrote new U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai Tuesday. It encouraged Tai to "move swiftly" on the commitment she made at her Senate Finance Committee confirmation hearing to install "a transparent, predictable, and rapid process for tariff exclusions.” Reforming the tariff exclusions process would be "very high on my radar" if confirmed, Tai told the committee (see 2102250043). Noting USTR has investigated the digital services taxes policies of several U.S. trade partners, the group asked the agency “to discourage further proliferation of such measures.” USTR didn't comment Wednesday, and ITI didn't answer our queries about whether it got a response from the agency. The Chinese tariffs are “there to be punitive,” rather than to stop China’s allegedly unfair trade practices, ITI CEO Jason Oxman told us in January (see 2011090043).

The three-judge panel in the Section 301 litigation inundating the U.S. Court of International Trade granted Akin Gump’s March 19 "coordinated proposal" designating the first-filed HMTX Industries-Jasco Products complaint as the sole sample case (see 2103220035), said a procedural order (in Pacer) Wednesday. Judges also stayed the roughly 3,700 other cases and approved seating a 15-member plaintiffs steering committee, also as Akin Gump proposed. The panel ordered the steering committee and DOJ to confer on a joint status report due April 12 that will include a proposed briefing schedule and list “any additional issues requiring early case management intervention,” plus a “joint proposal for addressing any such issues to the extent possible,” it said. If the steering committee and DOJ “are unable to agree on a proposal, the status report should identify the position of each side and the basis for any disagreement,” it said. The two sides also are ordered to “continue their consultations” on the thorny issue of refund relief, said the panel. The joint status report should summarize “any issues regarding relief upon which they agree and identify areas of disagreement, including the basis for such disagreement,” it said. The court won’t issue an “advisory opinion” on the issue of relief but is “clear-eyed regarding its role in managing the extensive number of Section 301 Cases and the challenges and importance of providing timely, effective, and administrable relief should Plaintiffs establish their right to such relief,” it said.

Trade policy on China should prioritize technology issues and set “benchmarks" for a "phased rollback" of Trade Act Section 301 tariffs, the Information Technology Industry Council wrote new U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai Tuesday. It encouraged Tai to "move swiftly" on the commitment she made at her Senate Finance Committee confirmation hearing to install "a transparent, predictable, and rapid process for tariff exclusions.” Reforming the tariff exclusions process would be "very high on my radar" if confirmed, Tai told the committee (see 2102250043). Noting USTR has investigated the digital services taxes policies of several U.S. trade partners, the group asked the agency “to discourage further proliferation of such measures.” USTR didn't comment Wednesday, and ITI didn't answer our queries about whether it got a response from the agency. The Chinese tariffs are “there to be punitive,” rather than to stop China’s allegedly unfair trade practices, ITI CEO Jason Oxman told us in January (see 2011090043).