Advocacy

Reminder: Submit Comments to USTR on Section 301 China Tariffs

By SEMA Washington, D.C., Staff

As part of the statutorily required four-year review of Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) issued a questionnaire seeking comments on the economy-wide, industry-specific and individual impacts of the tariffs.

The USTR previously announced the comment period and requested “comments on the effectiveness of the actions in achieving the objectives of the investigation, other actions that could be taken, and the effects of such actions on the United States economy, including consumers.” It has now released its questionnaire to be filled out by companies impacted by the tariffs. The form is broken into three sections. Section A requests information about the economy-wide impact of the tariffs. Section B delves into the impact at the industry/sector level. Section C requests product-specific information including HTSUS numbers and reasons why the tariffs should be maintained, eliminated or modified. It is an opportunity for companies that benefitted from a product-specific exclusion to request a permanent exclusion.

SEMA encourages companies to share feedback on how they have been impacted by the tariffs including the USTR’s consideration of product exclusion requests. The docket will open for comment on November 15, 2022, and close on January 17, 2023.

If your business has been impacted by the Section 301 tariffs, contact Caroline Fletcher at carolinef@sema.org to be incorporated into SEMA’s comments.