On September 17, 2018, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) released the third list (List 3 Final) of approximately $200 billion worth of imports from China that will be subject to additional tariffs. This recent action is part of the Section 301 U.S. response to China’s unfair trade practices related to the forced transfer of American technology and intellectual property.
Unlike previous Section 301 actions, this third list of additional tariffs will be implemented in two phases, with effective dates of September 24, 2018, and January 1, 2019. This third list follows the first list of tariffs on approximately $34 billion of imports from China which went into effect on July 6, 2018, and the second list of approximately $16 billion of imports from China which went into effect on August 23, 2018.
The two-phase implementation schedule is as follows:
Phase 1 – September 24, 2018 – Customs and Border Protection will begin to collect the 10% additional duties.
Phase 2 – January 1, 2019 – The 10% duties will be increased to 25%. Customs and Border Protection will begin to collect the 25% additional duties.
The third list covers 5,745 full or partial lines of the original 6,031 U.S. tariff lines announced on July 10, 2018. Changes to the proposed list were made after the USTR received written comments and heard testimony during a public hearing last month. This list was compiled based on extensive interagency analysis and a thorough examination of the comments and testimony from the interested parties. 297 tariff lines were fully or partially removed from the original proposed list. Included among the products removed from the original proposed list are certain consumer electronics; certain chemical inputs for manufactured goods, textiles and agriculture; and certain health and safety products.
It is important to note that the final list has a two page “Part 2 Annex” at the end. This annex contains tariff lines that are subject to the order, with specific exclusions at a ten-digit tariff line level. Included in this annex are some chemicals, electronics, and furniture.
USTR will issue a formal notice in the Federal Register of this $200 billion tariff action within the next few weeks. The notice will include the dates and requirements for interested parties to request exclusion of particular products covered by a tariff line.
For additional details, visit the USTR website.
For more information, please contact your local MIQ Logistics representative.