Spencer Toubia

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On June 15, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) issued a press release announcing its intent to impose additional tariffs on products imported from China. The additional tariffs are part of the U.S.’ response to China’s unfair trade practices related to “the forced transfer of American technology and intellectual property” pursuant to Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974.

Two lists of tariff lines were released. The first list includes 818 of the original 1,333 lines and is valued at $34 billion worth of imports from China. Products falling under these tariff lines will see an additional duty of 25 percent beginning on July 6.

The second list consists of 284 new tariff lines identified by the interagency Section 301 Committee as “benefiting from Chinese industrial policies, including the “Made in China 2025” industrial policy.”

These 284 lines cover approximately $16 billion worth of imports from China. This list will undergo further review in a public notice and comment process, including a public hearing. After completion of this process, USTR will issue a final determination on the products from this list that would be subject to the additional duties.

 

Section 301 For covered products in List 1, please click here.

For covered products in List 2, please click here.

 25%

 

TBD

 7/6/2018

 

TBD
Status: List 1 is composed of 818 of the original 1,333 tariff lines, and goes into effect on 7/6/2018.

List 2 is composed of 284 proposed tariff lines identified by the interagency Section 301 Committee. These will see further review, to include a public hearing.

For full details, please click here.

Last updated on 6/15/2018: added new U.S. Section 301 tariffs; added translated version of Mexican retaliatory measures and updated Mexico section.

U.S. Trade Actions

Action Covered Products Rate Increase Effective Date
Section 232 Steel and Aluminum Steel – 25%
Aluminum – 10%		 6/1/2018
Status: Steel – all countries of origin except South Korea, Brazil, and Argentina (agreed to quotas); and Australia (exempted).

Aluminum – all countries of origin except Argentina (agreed to quota); and Australia (exempted).
Section 232 Autos and Automotive Parts TBD TBD
Status: For the latest status, please click here.
Section 301 For covered products in List 1, please click here.

 

For covered products in List 2, please click here.

 25%

 

 

TBD

 7/6/2018

 

 

TBD
Status: List 1 is composed of 818 of the original 1,333 tariff lines, and goes into effect on 7/6/2018.

List 2 is composed of 284 proposed tariff lines identified by the interagency Section 301 Committee. These will see further review, to include a public hearing.

For full details, please click here.

Retaliatory Actions

Canada For covered products, please click here. Table 1 – 25%
Table 2 – 10%		 7/1/2018
Status: Canadian companies/industry associations have until 6/15/2018 to submit comments supporting or expressing concern about items on the list.
EU For covered products, please click here. Annex I – 10% or 25%
Annex II – 10% – 50%		 Annex I – 7/1/2018 (tentative);
Annex II – 3/23/2018 or 5th day after WTO Dispute Settlement Body rules against the U.S. action, whichever is first.
Status: For the latest status, please click here.
Mexico For the translated list of covered products, please click here. 7% – 25% (pages 1-4)

10% – 15% (page 5)

 6/5/2018

7/5/2018
Status: Most retaliatory measures effective as of 6/5/2018. An “exception” list is effective on 7/5/2018.
China For covered products, please click here. Annex I – 15% – 25% 4/3/2018
Status: For the latest status, please click here.

 

On May 31, 2018, President Trump signed two new presidential proclamations adjusting steel and aluminum duties initiated under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962.

These ended temporary exemptions of duties for imports of steel and aluminum products from the European Union (EU), Canada, and Mexico. As a result, a 25 percent duty on steel products and a 10 percent duty on aluminum products are now being collected on imports from those countries.

President Trump originally announced the Section 232 tariffs on March 8, 2018. However, on March 22, he temporarily exempted imports of steel and aluminum from Australia, Argentina, South Korea, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and EU member countries from the tariffs until May 1, 2018. President Trump subsequently extended this deadline to June 1.

The most recent May 31 proclamations continued tariff exemptions for imports from Brazil, Argentina, and South Korea, as those countries negotiated quotas restricting steel and aluminum exports to the U.S. The Proclamations announced the aggregate limits of imports from Argentina and Brazil, while the administration previously announced specific quota amounts for steel products from South Korea on April 30, 2018. The only country exempted from the tariffs and not subject to quotas is Australia.

A statement issued by the White House noted that “measures are in place to address the impairment to the national security threatened by imports of steel and aluminum from Argentina, Brazil, and Australia” and that “similar measures are not in place with respect to steel or aluminum imports from Mexico, Canada, or the European Union.” The statement also said “the Administration will continue discussions with [Mexico, Canada, and the European Union] and remains open to discussions with other countries.”

On May 23, 2018, the Secretary of Commerce initiated an investigation to determine the effects on the national security of imports of automobiles, including cars, SUVs, vans and light trucks, and automotive parts. This investigation has been initiated under section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, as amended.

On May 30, 2018, the Department of Commerce (Commerce) published in the Federal Register details on the public hearing, scheduled for July 19-20, as well as the schedule for commenting and submitting rebuttal comments.

Interested parties are invited to submit written comments, data, analyses, or other information pertinent to the investigation to the Department of Commerce by June 22, 2018. Rebuttals to those comments are due by July 6, 2018.

June 22 is also the deadline for requesting to appear at the public hearing and for submissions of a summary of expected testimony.

Commerce will hold a public hearing on the investigation on July 19 and 20, 2018 in Washington, DC. The notice identifies the issues on which the Department is interested in obtaining the public’s views and discusses the procedures for public participation in the hearing.

Per the notice, Commerce is particularly interested in the following criteria as they affect national security:

 

 

  • The quantity and nature of imports of automobiles, including cars, SUVs, vans and light trucks, and automotive parts and other circumstances related to the importation of automobiles and automotive parts;
  • Domestic production needed for projected national defense requirements;
  • Domestic production and productive capacity needed for automobiles and automotive parts to meet projected national defense requirements;
  • The existing and anticipated availability of human resources, products, raw materials, production equipment, and facilities to produce automobiles and automotive parts;
  • The growth requirements of the automobiles and automotive parts industry to meet national defense requirements and/or requirements to assure such growth, particularly with respect to investment and research and development;
  • The impact of foreign competition on the economic welfare of the U.S. automobiles and automotive parts industry;
  • The displacement of any domestic automobiles and automotive parts causing substantial unemployment, decrease in the revenues of government, loss of investment or specialized skills and productive capacity, or other serious effects;
  • Relevant factors that are causing or will cause a weakening of our national economy;
  • The extent to which innovation in new automotive technologies is necessary to meet projected national defense requirements;
  • Whether and how the analysis of the above factors changes when U.S. production by majority U.S.-owned firms is considered separately from U.S. production by majority foreign-owned firms; and
  • Any other relevant factors.