A deal is shaping up with China that would lift most of the Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal . The article cautioned it could still fall apart over enforcement, or over political pressures on either side that the deal is too favorable to the other country. President Donald Trump tweeted that "I have asked China to immediately remove all Tariffs on our agricultural products (including beef, pork, etc.) based on the fact that we are moving along nicely with Trade discussions.... and I did not increase their second traunch [sic] of Tariffs to 25% on March 1st. This is very important for our great farmers - and me!"

The duty rate of the third tranche of Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods “will remain at 10 percent" indefinitely, said a prepublication Federal Register “modification” notice released after hours Thursday by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. It officially prevented the rate hike to 25 percent from taking effect at 12:01 a.m. EST Saturday.

Because of the input from industry, the direction of the president, and "progress of the additional rounds of negotiations" with China since December 2018, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has announced that the duty for about 5,700 tariff lines will remain at 10 percent "until further notice." List 3 of the Section 301 tariff action was originally due to increase to 25 percent on Jan. 1, 2019, and that increase was delayed until March 2 because of the status of negotiations. This latest announcement was expected, because President Donald Trump tweeted Feb. 24 that the increase would not happen (see 1902240001). The 10 percent rate of additional duty for about $200 billion worth of Chinese products went into effect Sept. 24, 2018. The USTR noted that the Section 301 statute authorizes his office "to modify or terminate any action being taken under Section 301" if the action is no longer appropriate."

The National Retail Federation hailed introduction Thursday of bipartisan legislation in the House and Senate requiring the Trump administration to begin an exclusion-request process for the third tranche of 10 percent Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports modeled after those in the first two rounds of duties. The legislation, sponsored by Sens. James Lankford, R-Okla., and Chris Coons, D-Del., and Reps. Ron Kind, D-Wis., and Jackie Walorski, R-Ind., would require granting tariff exclusions for imports “that have no commercial availability outside of China,” or those “for which a tariff would cause an increase in consumer prices for low- and middle-income families,” said NRF. Tariffs are “taking a toll on hardworking Americans across the country,” said David French, NRF senior vice president-government relations. “Establishing a timely and efficient tariff exclusion process is the least Washington can do for American businesses that have no alternative supplier and for working families that rely on everyday products.” Walorski, one of the bill’s House sponsors, questioned U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer at a Ways and Means Committee hearing about whether he expected to meet the 30-day deadline for initiating a List 3 tariff-exclusion process under a mandate written into the Feb. 15 omnibus spending bill.(see 1902270047). “It’s something that we’re looking at,” he said, as if the mandate didn’t exist. Lighthizer said he will maintain the policy of initiating a List 3 exclusion process if the tariffs increases to 25 percent. Under the legislation, the granted exclusions would be retroactive to List 3's Sept. 24 effective date. In specifying the terms under which exclusions would be required, the legislation also would also take away USTR's discretion to grant exemptions under conditions the agency hasn't specified for rounds one and two. The legislation's sponsors cited the Congressional Research Service in saying that U.S. importers paid more than $12.2 billion in tariffs for all three Section 301 lists through Feb. 21.

One of the more interesting exchanges during Wednesday’s House Ways and Means Committee hearing on Section 301 Chinese tariffs (see 1902270047) came late in the questioning when Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla., confronted U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer with accounts of how she said the duties were harming small businesses in her Orlando district. “Whatever your intentions were” in imposing the tariffs, “evidence on the ground is really grim,” Murphy told Lighthizer.

Just over 4,500 Section 301 exclusion requests have been denied by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, according to an update published late Feb. 28. There have been 985 exclusion requests granted, covering 21 tariff lines. The largest number of the granted requests were for plastic injection molds, three types of radial bearings, linear-acting hydraulic motors and water coolers. This is much larger than the last update, published Dec. 21, 2018, when fewer than 25 had been granted (see 1812240010).

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

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer wouldn’t commit Wednesday to suspending the Trump administration’s Section 301 tariffs on $250 billion in Chinese imports even if the U.S. reaches a trade deal with China.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer wouldn’t commit Wednesday to suspending the Trump administration’s Section 301 tariffs on $250 billion in Chinese imports even if the U.S. reaches a trade deal with China.

The day after U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer told Rep. Jackie Walorski at a hearing that he still believes there's no need for exclusions from 10 percent tariffs on Chinese imports, she and Rep. Ron Kind have introduced a bill that would force him to put the process in place. Their bill -- which has a Senate companion written by Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., and Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del. -- is called the Import Tax Relief Act.