The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is requesting comments on whether all the tariff exclusions granted to Chinese imports on Section 301 List 4 that are set to expire Sept. 1 should be extended for up to another year, it said in a notice. The agency will start accepting comments on the extensions on July 1. The comments are due by July 30, it said. Each exclusion will be evaluated independently. The evaluation's focus will be whether, despite the first imposition of these additional duties, the particular product remains available only from China. The companies are required to post a public rationale.

The Democratic National Committee chairman, and progressive star Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., described President Donald Trump's trade war with China as a failed attempt at getting tough on China that hurt Pennsylvania exporters and manufacturers. “China smelled Trump's desperation and played him like a fiddle,” DNC Chairman Tom Perez said on a video conference call with reporters June 24. “He lost the trade war that he started.”

Sonos is eliminating 12% of its global workforce as part of a plan to cut operating expenses and preserve liquidity, said a Wednesday SEC filing. It didn't respond to questions on which departments would be affected. It's also closing its New York retail store, which opened in 2016 (see 1607190049), and six satellite offices. The store in Manhattan's SoHo neighborhood was reportedly damaged during the violence associated with the Black Lives Matter protests.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is requesting comments on whether to extend by up to another year tariff exclusions on Chinese imports on Section 301 List 2 that are set to expire Sept. 20 (see 1909180013), it said in a notice. The agency will start accepting comments on the extensions July 1. Comments are due July 30, it said. Each exclusion will be evaluated independently, focusing on whether, despite the first imposition of these additional duties, the particular product remains available only from China. The companies are required to post a public rationale.

The Democratic National Committee chairman, and progressive star Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., described President Donald Trump's trade war with China as a failed attempt at getting tough on China that hurt Pennsylvania exporters and manufacturers. “China smelled Trump's desperation and played him like a fiddle,” DNC Chairman Tom Perez said on a video conference call with reporters June 24. “He lost the trade war that he started.”

Of the nearly 53,000 exclusion requests U.S. importers filed for relief from the Trump administration's Trade Act Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods, 75.4% were denied, and 12.3% are pending, said a Congressional Research Service report Friday. Since most exemptions don't correlate with a single Harmonized Tariff Schedule number, it's not possible to know how much trade the exclusions represent, said CRS. As the administration makes "more active use of Section 301 authorities to pressure other countries to eliminate their trade barriers, Congress could consider amending Section 301," the report said. "It could establish a formal product exclusion process or set specific guidelines for when and how to grant exclusions." The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative didn't comment Monday.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is requesting comments on whether tariff exclusions on Chinese imports on Section 301 List 2 that are set to expire Oct. 2 (see 1909300041) should extend by up to another year, it said in a notice. The agency will start accepting comments on the extensions July 1. The comments are due by July 30, it said. Each exclusion will be evaluated independently. The focus of the evaluation will be whether, despite the first imposition of these additional duties, the particular product remains available only from China. The companies are required to post a public rationale.

The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of June 15-21:

Of the nearly 53,000 exclusion requests U.S. importers filed for relief from the Trump administration's Trade Act Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods, 75.4% were denied, and 12.3% are pending, said a Congressional Research Service report Friday. Since most exemptions don't correlate with a single Harmonized Tariff Schedule number, it's not possible to know how much trade the exclusions represent, said CRS. As the administration makes "more active use of Section 301 authorities to pressure other countries to eliminate their trade barriers, Congress could consider amending Section 301," the report said. "It could establish a formal product exclusion process or set specific guidelines for when and how to grant exclusions." The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative didn't comment Monday.

CBP added June 18 the ability in ACE for importers to file entries with recently excluded goods in the fourth tranche of Section 301 tariffs, it said in a CSMS message. The official Office of the U.S. Trade Representative notice for the exclusions was published June 12 (see 2006090003). The exclusions are in subheading 9903.88.49. The exclusions are available for any product that meets the description in the Annex to USTR’s notice, regardless of whether the importer filed an exclusion request. The product exclusions apply retroactively to Sept. 1, 2019, the date the tariffs on the fourth list took effect, and remain in effect until Sept. 1, 2020. The CSMS message also includes a summary of Section 301 duties that shows information on each tranche of tariffs and granted product exclusions.