Deadline Approaching – Why Should Your Product Not Be on The 301 List!

We have been working hard to keep you up to date on the current Trade War between the United States and China. China has taken retaliatory actions against the United States in response to the first wave of additional U.S. duties that became effective on July 6, 2018. The United States is gearing up to impose a second round of 10% additional duties on approximately $200 billion worth of products of Chinese origin. The USTR has also been directed to consider levying a 25% tariff on these $200 billion worth of Chinese imports – thereby increasing the 10% to 25%.

Now, you have the ability to tell USTR why your products should not be on the 301 List.

USTR released a federal register notice entitled, “Request for Comments Concerning Proposed Modification of Action Pursuant to Section 301: China’s Acts, Policies, and Practices Related to Technology Transfer, Intellectual Property, and Innovation.” This request for comments permits interested parties to comment on their opposition to the additional 10% (or 25%) duty on products of China with an annual trade value of approximately $200 billion. The following are the deadlines for the comment submission are coming up soon:

• August 13, 2018: The due date for filing requests to appear and a summary of expected
  testimony at the public hearing and for filing pre-hearing submissions is extended from
  July 27 to August 13, 2018.
• September 6, 2018: The due date for submission of written comments is extended from
  August 17 to September 6, 2018.
• August 20-23, 2018: The scheduled start date of the Section 301 hearing (August 20) has
  not changed. The Section 301 Committee may extend the length of the hearing depending
  on the number of additional interested persons who request to appear. The Section 301
  Committee will convene the public hearing in the main hearing room of the U.S. International Trade Commission, 500 E Street SW Washington DC 20436 beginning at 9:30 am on August 20, 2018.
• September 6, 2018: The due date for submission of post-hearing rebuttal comments is
  extended from August 30 to September 6, 2018

USTR requests comments with respect to any aspect of the proposed additional 10 % tariffs, including:

• The specific tariff subheadings to be subject to increased duties, including whether the subheadings listed in the Annex should be retained or removed, or whether subheadings not currently on the list should be added.
• The level of the increase, if any, in the rate of duty.
• The appropriate aggregate level of trade to be covered by additional duties.

In commenting on removal of particular tariff subheadings listed in the Annex, USTR requests that comments address specifically whether imposing increased duties on a particular product would be practicable or effective to obtain the elimination of China’s acts, policies, and practices, and whether maintaining or imposing additional duties on a particular product would cause disproportionate economic harm to U.S. interests, including small- or medium-size businesses and consumers.

There are currently 708 comments submitted. For a comment to make a fruitful impact on USTR’s final decision, a comment should be drafted by an expert in the field. DTL can assist in ensuring your comment holds weight and is taken seriously by the USTR.

The deadline is approaching, contact DTL TODAY to start drafting your comment, 305-456-3830 or info@diaztradelaw.com.

Print