China will still send a delegation to meet with U.S. negotiators on a possible deal to resolve trade issues between the two countries, despite an announcement by President Donald Trump on May 5 to increase Section 301 tariffs against the country, according to a Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman. Trump tweeted that the U.S. will increase the current 10 percent tariff on $200 billion in goods to 25 percent on May 10, and may impose additional Section 301 tariffs on over $300 billion in Chinese exports.

After a day when the stock markets responded as if President Donald Trump's May 5 tweet about raising tariffs on Chinese goods was an empty threat, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer told reporters from a number of national outlets that the new tariff rate -- jumping from the current 10 percent to 25 percent -- would take effect at 12:01 a.m. on May 10.

President Donald Trump will hike the List 3 Section 301 tariffs to 25 percent from 10 percent, effective Friday, on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports, he tweeted Sunday. The increase originally was to have taken effect Jan. 1, but Trump twice postponed the hike since December, citing progress with Chinese negotiators to strike a comprehensive trade deal. The talks continue with the Chinese, but “too slowly, as they attempt to renegotiate,” he said. “No!”

The third tranche of Section 301 tariffs on goods from China will go up to 25 percent on May 10, President Donald Trump tweeted on May 5. "For 10 months, China has been paying Tariffs to the USA of 25% on 50 Billion Dollars of High Tech, and 10% on 200 Billion Dollars of other goods," he said. "These payments are partially responsible for our great economic results. The 10% will go up to 25% on Friday. " That increase was previously set to take place at the beginning of 2019, but was pushed back as the U.S. and China negotiated.

A bill was reintroduced that would require Congressional approval for any White-House initiated tariff change -- effectively curtailing future Section 201, 301 and Section 232 tariffs, as well as a not-yet-used authority to raise tariffs on all goods from a country where we run a trade deficit.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said there will be an exclusion process for the third tranche of Section 301 tariffs on products from China and that the agency has "begun preparations to launch a process by the end of the month." His comment came in written replies submitted in recent weeks to Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., after a House Ways and Means Committee appearance in February. He had previously argued no exclusions were needed for the 10 percent tariffs despite urging from Congress.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer told one Democrat the agency would be starting a Section 301 exclusion process for the largest, third tranche of goods subject to tariffs by the end of April (see 1905020030), but he avoided committing to finishing evaluations of pending exclusions once tariffs are lifted. "USTR will consider all options in the event tariff rates are modified," he wrote to Rep. Jackie Walorski, R-Ind. No exclusion process has launched, even though the April 30 target has passed. USTR's spokeswoman did not respond to a question by press time about when it might launch. All of Lighthizer's responses were posted April 24 as an addendum to the February hearing's transcript.

The International Trade Commission recently posted Revision 3 to the 2019 Harmonized Tariff Schedule. The new version includes changes necessary to implement the latest group of exemptions from Section 301 tariffs on certain products from China, as announced by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative in a notice issued April 18 (see 1904170038). That includes the addition of new subheading 9903.88.07 for goods that qualify for the exemption, as well as new paragraph (j) of Note 20 to subchapter III of chapter 99, which lists goods covered by the new exemptions.

International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for April 22-26 in case they were missed.

Keeping in place permanently the temporary “tariff suspensions” on flat panels and assemblies that Element Electronics imports from China is “vital” to the workers who assemble finished LCD TVs in South Carolina, Element commented (login required) Tuesday in International Trade Commission docket 332-565. The 4.5 percent duties on LCD TV components Element sources under the 9013.80.90 and 8529.90.13 tariff lines were temporarily suspended in the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (MTB) Act that President Donald Trump signed into law Sept. 13 to promote U.S. production at companies that rely on small-volume imports. Element's comments were part of the review process for an ITC report to Congress due within year after the MTB's enactment summarizing the legislation’s impact to the U.S. economy. “Tariff inversion” in the U.S. TV sector “incentivizes production abroad,” said Element. The 4.5 percent duties put Element at a significant cost disadvantage to finished TVs from China assessed a 3.9 percent rate, it said. “To make matters worse,” importers of finished TVs from Mexico paid zero duty under the North American Free Trade Agreement, it said. “Since 2013, the US has imported on average over 17 million finished LCD TVs from Mexico per year (or about 46% of total US LCD TV imports). These duty free imports are a major source of competition for Element's US production facility.” The MTB duty suspension “has been a job-saving development that has gone a long way to level the playing field for Element's workers” in South Carolina, said Element. “lt is vital that the existing MTBs are made permanent to provide a permanent solution to the tariff inversion.” The company made many of the same arguments when it testified successfully last summer for the removal of Section 301 tariffs on 9013.80.90 and 8529.90.13 goods from China.