White House - Final Section 301 Tariffs List Against China Coming June 15

29May

White House – Final Section 301 Tariffs List Against China Coming June 15

May 29, 2018

Dear Valued Customer:

White House – Final List of Section 301 Tariffs Coming by June 15, 2018

On May 29, the White House posted an announcement stating that 25% tariffs on $50 billion worth of goods from China will go forward and that a final list of covered products will be announced by June 15, 2018. This announcement comes just after the Trump administration had put the measure on hold on May 20 while China and the U.S. worked on the framework of an agreement.

In our April 4, 2018 and March 22, 2018 editions of The Current, we alerted our customers that President Donald Trump signed the Section 301 tariff action on some $50 – 60 billion of Chinese imports due to practices amounting to years of stealing the intellectual property of American companies. In March, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) released a proposed list of more than 1,000 products being targeted. The proposed list can be found here (not the final list).

The announcement states that the U.S. will (1) implement specific investment restrictions and enhanced export controls related to Chinese acquisition of industrially significant technology, which will be announced by June 30 and implemented shortly thereafter. In addition, the U.S. will (2) continue WTO litigation for violations of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. Finally, the U.S. will also (3) impose a 25% tariff on $50 billion of goods imported from China containing industrially significant technology, including those related to the “Made in China 2025” program. Tariffs will be imposed shortly after the final list of covered imports is announced on June 15, 2018.

The Trump administration aims to force China to stop noneconomic transfers of industrially significant technology and intellectual property and enhance U.S. access to the Chinese market, as well as remove all of its many trade barriers, including non-monetary trade barriers, which make it both difficult and unfair to do business there. The announcement concludes with the comment that discussions with China will continue on these topics, and the United States looks forward to resolving long-standing structural issues and expanding our exports by eliminating China’s severe import restrictions. This could imply that if China acquiesces to the demands from the U.S., the final list of commodities could be reduced.

James J. Boyle & Co. will continue to monitor developments of the Section 301 measure to keep our customers apprised.

Thank you for your attention and cooperation. If you have any questions, please contact your nearest JJB representative.

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