Further to our July 11 Bulletin on additional Section 301 duties that were proposed with a 10% tariff, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has been directed by President Trump to consider a 25% tariff instead.
In a statement from U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lightizer, “The increase in the possible rate of the additional duty is intended to provide the administration with additional options to encourage China to change its harmful policies and behavior and adopt policies that will lead to fairer markets and prosperity for all of our citizens, the United States has joined forces with like-minded partners around the world to address unfair trade practices such as forced technology transfer and intellectual property theft, and we remain ready to engage with China in negotiations that could resolve these and other problems detailed in our Section 301 report.”
Due to the change, the comment period has been extended until September 5. A public hearing will be held at the International Trade Commission from August 20 to August 23 in Washington, DC.
Talks between the Americans and Chinese are ongoing, but no formal rounds of negotiations have been scheduled.
USTR original Notice of July 10 in below link, Annex of tariff numbers proposed starts on page 11 of same.
https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/301/2018-0026%20China%20FRN%207-10-2018_0.pdf
