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USTR releases proposed Section 301 tariffs; USCBC solicits comments

[ April 5, 2018   //   ]

The Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) has released its Section 301 tariff proposal for public comment, covering approximately 1,300 tariff lines. Written comments are due to USTR by Friday, May 11, 2018.

USCBC President John Frisbie released a statement after USTR’s announcement, noting that, “China needs to substantially improve market access and competitive conditions for American companies selling to and investing in China in certain sectors, but unilateral tariffs may do more harm than good and do little to address the problems in China’s IP and tech transfer policies.”

USCBC will submit its views on the proposal and welcomes member company input to include in the submission.  Comments on the use of the 301, the specific products listed for tariffs, and fears of retaliation are welcome. We would also be happy to hear from you about any other concerns you may have related to this trade action.

USCBC’s submission during the investigation phase of this action concentrated on the need for a solution-oriented actions to address the issues of intellectual property theft and forced tech transfer, ensuring that any action taken has a clear path to an identified goal.

Please submit your comments to Meg Kelly (mkelly@uschina.org) by Friday, April 27, 2018. We look forward to your feedback. USCBC will provide further analysis on this topic in an upcoming publication.

Related, USCBC’s April government affairs roundtable will be held on Friday, April 6 and will focus on these issues. To accommodate USCBC’s China-based executives, we will hold both a conference call Thursday, April 5 at 8:00 am EDT/8:00 pm China, and an in-person discussion at 10:00 am EDT Friday for executives in the US.

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