Witnesses from the United States Council for International Business, the Aluminum Association and the International Intellectual Property Alliance say that China is not living up to its World Trade Organization commitments on many fronts, even as there are some signs of movement away from practices that damage foreign competitors.

CTA joined other tech groups in hailing the trilateral trade agreement the U.S., Canada and Mexico reached over the weekend (see 1810010014), mainly saying it modernizes the North American Free Trade Agreement for the digital era. The Software and Information Industry Association and National Electrical Manufacturers Association also weighed in with their support of the agreement, but Public Knowledge criticized the deal’s intellectual property “chapter” as reflecting “the priorities of major corporate rightsholders while neglecting consumer and public interests.”

Reclassifying Chinese imports into Harmonized Tariff Schedule codes for goods not exposed to Section 301 tariffs is perhaps the least understood, most underused strategy that companies can try for minimizing the duties’ impact, a UPS executive said during an Oct. 3 webinar on high-tech supply chains. “If you’re not participating in what that classification process looks like, you’re taking a risk, I would say, at a minimum,” said Ron Shepherd, vice president at UPS Trade Management Services.

CBP posted a new "reference guide" to the harmonized tariff schedule subheadings currently covered by the Section 301 25 percent tariffs. The guide simply lists the eight-digit subheadings subject to the tariffs and the partial exemptions at the 10-digit level.

International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Sept. 24-28 in case they were missed.

The International Trade Commission issued Revision 12 to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule. The relatively comprehensive update implements as of Oct. 1 new provisions for wood products agreed to by the World Customs Organization, and adds new subheadings for pesticide-impregnated bed nets in Chapter 63. Other changes include new provisions for the third, $200 billion list of 10 percent Section 301 tariffs that took effect for goods from China beginning Sept. 24, as well as new exemptions for certain products from Section 201 safeguards on solar cells that took effect Sept. 19.

The removal of subheadings 0304.81.10 and 0304.81.50, which cover frozen salmon, from the recently implemented Section 301 10 percent tariffs applies retroactively to Sept. 24, CBP said in a CSMS message. "Any importer of goods classified in subheadings 0304.81.10 or 0304.84.50 in which Section 301 duties were assessed on or after that date can request a refund of the additional duties," CBP said. "Importers may file a post summary correction to request a refund of Section 301 duties assessed on goods classified in subheadings 0304.81.10 or 0304.84.50." The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative removed those subheadings (see 1809270038) “to account fully for the extensive public comments and testimony previously provided,” it said.

Congress needs to “instruct” U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to bring a World Trade Organization case for violating WTO rules against unfair trade practices, testified Information Technology and Innovation Foundation President Rob Atkinson Wednesday before the House IT Oversight Subcommittee. Congress should “take a hard line on limiting most Chinese investment” in the U.S., including in Chinese-backed “tech accelerators,” said Atkinson. He urged limiting “ongoing science and technology cooperation” with China, "especially considering that much of that cooperation is lopsided,” he said. The Trump administration placed Trade Act Section 301 tariffs “on a wide array of Chinese exports in an effort to bring the Chinese government to the negotiating table,” said Atkinson. “It is not clear if this approach will succeed.” The “most important step” the U.S. can take is develop a “joint campaign with our allies” to curb bad Chinese behavior, he said, to make "it more likely that China feels like it has no choice but to play more by the rules.”

Congress needs to “instruct” U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to bring a World Trade Organization case for violating WTO rules against unfair trade practices, testified Information Technology and Innovation Foundation President Rob Atkinson Wednesday before the House IT Oversight Subcommittee. Congress should “take a hard line on limiting most Chinese investment” in the U.S., including in Chinese-backed “tech accelerators,” said Atkinson. He urged limiting “ongoing science and technology cooperation” with China, "especially considering that much of that cooperation is lopsided,” he said. The Trump administration placed Trade Act Section 301 tariffs “on a wide array of Chinese exports in an effort to bring the Chinese government to the negotiating table,” said Atkinson. “It is not clear if this approach will succeed.” The “most important step” the U.S. can take is develop a “joint campaign with our allies” to curb bad Chinese behavior, he said, to make "it more likely that China feels like it has no choice but to play more by the rules.”

A bill that would allow Congress to reject safeguard tariffs and Section 301 tariffs, and that would require congressional approval before Section 232 tariffs could go into effect was introduced in the House of Representatives Sept. 26. The bill, called the Promoting Responsible and Free Trade Act, has co-sponsors Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., and Rep. Mark Sanford, R-S.C., who was defeated in a primary earlier this year, ostensibly in retaliation for being insufficiently loyal to Donald Trump.