The Raising Tariffs on Imports from China Act was introduced by Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and aims to increase tariffs on imports from China until the United State’s bilateral trade deficit returns to balance. In tandem with this legislation, Senator Hawley is pushing for debt limit talks to focus on the reduction of the trade deficit.

Following the normalization of trade relations between the United States and China, the trade deficit grew to 382,917 million in 2022. Senator Hawley points to the ongoing trade deficit between the United States and China, which has averaged $350 billion annually since President Clinton granted China permanent Normal Trade Relations, as the catalyst for the loss of 3.82 million jobs, particularly 2.89 million manufacturing jobs.

As of 2020, China is the United States’ largest supplier of goods imports and the top two import categories include electrical machinery, machinery, toys and sports equipment, furniture and bedding, and miscellaneous textile articles. Additionally, China is the 7th largest supplier of agricultural imports to the United States and has steadily increased imports of services to the United States since 2010.

Senator Hawley’s legislation Raising Tariffs on Imports from China would:

  • Require the President to calculate and subsequently publish the total value of imports into the United States from China and total value of exports from the United States to China annually,
  • Mandates the President to impose an additional duty of 25% on all goods imported from China if, a bilateral deficit is published in the previous calendar year, and
  • Authorizes the President to remove duties if, during the previous calendar year, the United States publishes a bilateral surplus with China.
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Photo of John Brew John Brew

John Brew is the co-chair of Crowell & Moring’s International Trade Group and a partner in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office. He has extensive experience in import and export trade regulation, and he regularly advises corporations, trade associations, foreign governments, and non-governmental organizations…

John Brew is the co-chair of Crowell & Moring’s International Trade Group and a partner in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office. He has extensive experience in import and export trade regulation, and he regularly advises corporations, trade associations, foreign governments, and non-governmental organizations on matters involving customs administration, enforcement, compliance, litigation, legislation and policy.

John represents clients in proceedings at the administrative and judicial levels, as well as before Congress and the international bureaucracies that handle customs and trade matters. He advises clients on all substantive import regulatory issues handled by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, such as classification, valuation, origin, marking, tariff preference programs, other agency regulations, admissibility, import restrictions, quotas, drawback, audits, prior disclosures, penalties, investigations, Importer Self Assessment and Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism programs, importations under bond, the Jones Act, vessel repairs, and foreign trade zone matters.

Photo of Emily Devereaux Emily Devereaux

Emily Devereaux is a senior international trade analyst I in Crowell & Moring’s Washington, D.C. office. She provides practice support to the International Trade Group on import regulatory matters pending before the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) and U.S. Customs and

Emily Devereaux is a senior international trade analyst I in Crowell & Moring’s Washington, D.C. office. She provides practice support to the International Trade Group on import regulatory matters pending before the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). She works closely with attorneys developing courses of action for clients impacted by investigations under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 and Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. She also supports unfair trade investigations, including antidumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) investigations, sunset reviews, and changed circumstance reviews before the Department of Commerce and the International Trade Commission (ITC).