Following the President's tweet over the weekend, and the perception that U.S.-China trade negotiations we breaking down, there has been much press reporting that the China 301 Tariff List 3, article now subject to additional 10% duty, would go to 25% at the end of this week. We now have official confirmation. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will publish in tomorrow's Federal Register "Notice of Modification of Section 301 Action: China’s Acts, Policies, and Practices Related to Technology Transfer, Intellectual Property, and Innovation," announcing that the rate of additional duty will increase to 25 percent with respect to products covered by the September 2018 action on May 10, 2019.
In the same FR publication, the Trade Representative announced that the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) will establish a process by which interested persons may request that particular products classified within an HTSUS subheading covered by the September 2018 action be excluded from the additional duties. USTR will publish a separate notice describing the product exclusion process, including the procedures for submitting exclusion requests, and an opportunity for interested persons to submit oppositions to a request.
Agathon Associates has confirmed with the Office of the United States Trade Representative that goods already in transit, or shipped in the next few hours and which are currently subject to the 10% Section 301 will remain at 10%. For goods now subject to 10% which are entered entered for consumption on or after midnight tonight AND where shipped to the U.S. on or after midnight tonight the Section 301 tariff will increase to 25%. That's means goods already in transit will not be subject to the increase, even if they arrive after midnight tonight. For confirmation see the text near the bottom of the first column of page 20460 in the May 9th Federal Register (84 FR 20459).
BACKGROUND
In a notice published on September 21, 2018 (83 FR 47974), the Trade Representative, at the direction of the President, announced a determination to modify the action being taken in the investigation by imposing additional duties on products of China with an annual trade value of approximately $200 billion. The rate of additional duty initially was 10 percent. Those additional duties were effective starting on September 24, 2018, and currently are in effect. Under Annex B of the September 21 notice, the rate of additional duty was set to increase to 25 percent on January 1, 2019. In the September 21 notice, the Trade Representative stated that he would continue to consider the actions taken in this investigation, and if further modifications were appropriate, he would take into account the extensive public comments and testimony previously provided in response to the notices published on July 17, 2018 (83 FR 33608) and August 7, 2018 (83 FR 38760).
On September 28, 2018 (83 FR 49153), the Trade Representative issued a conforming amendment and modification of the September 21 notice. The current notice refers to the September 21 notice, as modified by the September 28 notice, as the ‘September 2018 action.’
On December 19, 2018 (83 FR 65198), in accordance with the direction of the President, the Trade Representative determined to modify the September 2018 action by postponing until March 2, 2019, the increase in the rate of additional duty to 25 percent. The Annex to the December 19 notice, which superseded Annex B to the September 21 notice, amended the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) to reflect this postponement of the increase in the rate of duty applicable to the September 2018 action.
On March 5, 2019 (84 FR 7699), in accordance with the direction of the President, the Trade Representative determined to modify the September 2018 action by postponing until further notice the increase in the rate of additional duty to 25 percent. Annex B of the September 21 notice (83 FR 47974) and the Annex to the December 19 notice (83 FR 65198) were rescinded. In accordance with Annex A of the September 21 notice, the rate of additional duty under the September 2018 action remained at 10 percent until further notice.
The United States is engaging with China with the goal of obtaining the elimination of the acts, policies, and practices covered in the investigation. The leaders of the United States and China met on December 1, 2018, and agreed to hold negotiations on a range of issues, including those covered in this Section 301 investigation. See https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/statement-press-secretary-regarding-presidents-working-dinner-china/. Since the meeting on December 1, the United States and China have engaged in additional rounds of negotiation on these issues, including meetings in March, April, and May of 2019. In the most recent negotiations, China has chosen to retreat from specific commitments agreed to in earlier rounds. In light of the lack of progress in discussions with China, the President has directed the Trade Representative to increase the rate of additional duty to 25 percent. Section 301(b) of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (Trade Act), provides that the Trade Representative “shall take all appropriate and feasible action authorized under [Section 301(c)] to obtain the elimination of [the] act, policy, or practice [under investigation].” Section 307(a)(1) of the Trade Act authorizes the Trade Representative to modify or terminate any action being taken under Section 301, subject to the specific direction, if any, of the President if “the burden or restriction on United States commerce . . . of the acts, policies, and practices, that are the subject of such action has increased or decreased, or such action is being taken under Section [301(b)] of this title and is no longer appropriate.” In light of the lack of progress in the additional rounds of negotiations since March 2019, and at the direction of the President, the Trade Representative has determined that it is appropriate for the rate of additional duty under the September 2018 action to increase to 25 percent on May 10, 2019. The Trade Representative’s decision to modify the September 2018 action takes into account the extensive public comments and testimony, as well as advice from advisory committees, concerning the actions proposed in the notices issued in advance of the September 2018 action (83 FR 33608 and 83 FR 38760). Those notices, among other things, requested comments on whether the rate of additional duties should be 10 percent or 25 percent. The Trade Representative’s decision also reflects the advice of the interagency Section 301 Committee.
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