China

The President signed on Friday, February 15, 2019, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019, an appropriations bill to keep the government fully open. In the Joint Explanatory Statement (JES) from the House Appropriations Committee that accompanied the bill, Congress directs the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to create an exclusion process for the third tranche of Section 301 tariffs on China “no later than 30 days after the enactment of this Act, following the same procedures as those in rounds 1 and 2….”  This language does not tie a round 3 exclusion process to the level of the tariff (10% or 25%).  Significantly, though, this language in the JES was not included as part of the bill signed by the President and is therefore not legally binding.  Nevertheless, the JES expresses Congress’ intent and indicates that Congress expects USTR to begin an exclusion process covering goods on List 3 no later than March 17, 2019.

On December 28, 2018, the United States Trade Representative (“USTR”) published in the Federal Register  the first notice granting  product exclusions for specific products from the Section 301 tariffs subject to an additional 25% duty effective July 6, 2018.   The exclusions apply only to the $34 billion worth of Chinese tariffed products from Tranche 1. These exclusions will extend for one year from the date of publication of the notice.

On Saturday, December 1, 2018, President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping met to discuss trade relations between the two countries. Following their meeting, President Trump indicated that he would postpone increasing the tariff rate to 25% on certain Chinese goods worth up to $200 billion currently covered under Section 301 List 3. This increase was originally slated for January 1, 2019 (see our previous post here).  The 10% duties on that $200 million in goods will remain in effect, however, as will the 25% tariffs on the goods worth about $50 billion, which appear on the first and second list of additional duties. According to the White House press statement, the parties agreed to “endeavor” on a 90-day period, until March 1, 2019, to discuss the restructuring of China’s trade policies and come to an agreement.

On October 11, 2018, the Department of Commerce (Commerce) announced that it is initiating antidumping duty investigations on Refillable Stainless Steel Kegs from Germany, Mexico, and the People’s Republic of China and concurrently initiating a countervailing duty investigation on imports from China.