The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative issued a third list of product exclusions from Section 301 tariffs on goods from China. The exclusions are "reflected in 21 specially prepared product descriptions, which cover 348 separate exclusion requests," according to a pre-publication copy of a notice posted to the agency’s website April 15. The product exclusions apply retroactively to July 6, 2018, the date the first set of tariffs took effect, and will remain in effect until one year after USTR publishes the notice in the Federal Register.

A coalition of U.S. producers seeks the imposition of new antidumping and countervailing duties on ceramic tile from China, it said in a petition filed with the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission April 10. Commerce will now decide whether to begin AD/CVD investigations, which could result in the imposition of permanent AD/CV duty orders and the assessment of AD and CV duties on importers.

Toyota does support the renegotiated NAFTA, a top executive said at a trade conference in Washington, even though it will require the company to change some of its sourcing to meet the new 75 percent autos rule of origin. Doug Murtha, vice president of corporate strategy and planning for Toyota's North American division, said that the addition of $3 billion in U.S investments were, "to some extent, changes we had to make for USMCA."

LED lighting and IoT products supplier Acuity Brands grew revenue by 3 percent in its Q2 ended Feb. 28, but it would have been higher if not for the “pull-forward” of orders in Q1 from customers trying to beat Acuity’s price increases from the Section 301 tariffs on Chinese components imports, said CEO Vern Nagel on a Wednesday earnings call. Acuity is “unable to determine the precise impact of the sales shift between quarters,” he said.

A U.S.-China trade deal is 90 percent “done,” but the fate of post-agreement Section 301 tariffs on $250 billion in Chinese imports remains unknown, Myron Brilliant, who heads international affairs for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, told reporters Tuesday. "We're getting into the end-game phase" with China, he said.

The U.S. continues to pursue “vigorous engagement” with China to “increase the benefits” that U.S. businesses, service providers and consumers “derive from trade and economic ties” with the Chinese, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said in its annual report on global foreign trade barriers (see 1904010045). China’s trade practices “in several specific areas,” especially forced technology transfer and the Made in China 2025 industrial program, continue to “cause particular concern” for U.S. “stakeholders,” USTR said.

Pro-trade Democrats said that given the barrier of Section 232 tariffs, the fact that Mexico has not yet passed labor law reform, and other concerns, it's premature to be talking about the timing of a vote in the House of Representatives to ratify the new NAFTA. The president of the New Democrats, as well as two other trade leaders in the pro-growth caucus, talked to reporters April 2 after meeting with Canada's U.S. Ambassador David MacNaughton at the Capitol.

International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for March 25-29 in case they were missed.

The U.S. continues to pursue “vigorous engagement” with China to “increase the benefits” that U.S. businesses, service providers and consumers “derive from trade and economic ties” with the Chinese, said an Office of U.S. Trade Representative report Friday on global foreign trade barriers. China’s trade practices “in several specific areas,” especially forced technology transfer and the Made in China 2025 industrial program, continue to “cause particular concern” for U.S. “stakeholders,” said the USTR.

Momentum is moving China and the U.S. toward a trade deal, Myron Brilliant, head of international affairs for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said while speaking with reporters April 2. "We're getting into the end game phase" with China, he said. Brilliant said the negotiations with the Chinese delegation that will begin April 3 will be critical to reaching a resolution at the end of April, as both sides desire. But Brilliant emphasized that the business community is more interested in a comprehensive, durable deal that resolves long-standing complaints on discrimination against foreign companies operating in China and subsidies for Chinese firms than in reaching a quick deal.