Rolling back a “substantial number” of Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods likely will be a “first order of business” for the Biden administration’s trade policy, said the Information Technology Industry Council Tuesday. The duties have “proven to be punishing to American consumers and businesses,” it said. The new administration will need to negotiate with the Chinese “to potentially achieve or strengthen commitments on trade issues and to ensure a stepped tariffs removal process on both sides,” it said. “This can serve as a relatively easy trust building exercise and ‘low-hanging’ fruit as the administration seeks to reestablish more routine government-to-government discussions.” It can also provide “an early window” into which issues the new administration will “prioritize in trade discussions with China,” it said. Neither the Biden team nor the Chinese Embassy in Washington responded to questions.
Rolling back a “substantial number” of Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods likely will be a “first order of business” for the Biden administration’s trade policy, said the Information Technology Industry Council Tuesday. The duties have “proven to be punishing to American consumers and businesses,” it said. The new administration will need to negotiate with the Chinese “to potentially achieve or strengthen commitments on trade issues and to ensure a stepped tariffs removal process on both sides,” it said. “This can serve as a relatively easy trust building exercise and ‘low-hanging’ fruit as the administration seeks to reestablish more routine government-to-government discussions.” It can also provide “an early window” into which issues the new administration will “prioritize in trade discussions with China,” it said. Neither the Biden team nor the Chinese Embassy in Washington responded to questions.
Rolling back a “substantial number” of Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods likely will be a “first order of business” for the Biden administration’s trade policy, said the Information Technology Industry Council Tuesday. The duties have “proven to be punishing to American consumers and businesses,” it said. The new administration will need to negotiate with the Chinese “to potentially achieve or strengthen commitments on trade issues and to ensure a stepped tariffs removal process on both sides,” it said. “This can serve as a relatively easy trust building exercise and ‘low-hanging’ fruit as the administration seeks to reestablish more routine government-to-government discussions.” It can also provide “an early window” into which issues the new administration will “prioritize in trade discussions with China,” it said. Neither the Biden team nor the Chinese Embassy in Washington responded to questions.
Although President-elect Joe Biden has said he wants to focus on domestic issues before turning to trade, Brian Pomper, a former chief international trade counsel when the Senate Finance Committee was controlled by Democrats, said he's going to have to deal with trade right away if the Trump administration imposes tariffs on France on Jan. 1 over its digital services tax proposal.
Americans for Free Trade, a trade group opposed to Section 301 tariffs, wrote to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer asking that the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative extend Section 301 tariff exclusions scheduled to expire Dec. 31. “As American businesses continue to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, they should not have to face the uncertainty of tax increases on January 1 because of a reimposition of tariffs on previously excluded products. It remains unclear whether USTR intends to offer additional product exclusion extension opportunities for the remaining exclusions. We believe it is crucial for USTR to do so,” the letter said. The group also asked USTR to extend all product exclusions that are currently in force for at least six months.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Nov. 2-8:
CBP has been swamped with hundreds of thousands of protests related to Section 301 litigation on lists 3 and 4A China tariffs, as importers seek to preserve their rights to refunds if the lawsuits are successful, Robert Silverman of Grunfeld Desiderio said Nov. 9. Negotiations are ongoing with the Department of Justice to untether claims from liquidation dates, which would free importers from potentially having to file the protests to protect their rights, Silverman said, speaking at the Coalition of New England Companies for Trade’s virtual Northeast Cargo Symposium. “We’re trying to get DOJ to agree that liquidation is irrelevant. If they do, then we can stop filing these silly protests,” he said.
CTA President Gary Shapiro and Jason Oxman, CEO of the Information Technology Industry Council, expressed hope Monday that President-elect Joe Biden’s bipartisan skills would bring progress on high-skilled immigration and infrastructure initiatives in Congress. President Donald Trump hasn't conceded.
CTA President Gary Shapiro and Jason Oxman, CEO of the Information Technology Industry Council, expressed hope Monday that President-elect Joe Biden’s bipartisan skills would bring progress on high-skilled immigration and infrastructure initiatives in Congress. President Donald Trump hasn't conceded.
CBP has some qualms with the operational aspects of ending the de minimis exemption for goods subject to Section 301 tariffs, Executive Assistant Commissioner for International Trade Brenda Smith said while speaking on the virtual Coalition of New England Companies for Trade conference on Nov. 9. There's a CBP proposal for the change that's under Office of Management and Budget review (see 2009040026). “We do have some concerns,” she said.