Section 301 Tariff Exclusion Process to Resume

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said Oct. 4 that USTR will restart a process for requesting exclusions from the Section 301 tariffs on imports from China but offered no further details. Tai gave no indication that the existing tariffs will be lifted and in fact suggested that more tariffs could be imposed if China does not take sufficient actions to address U.S. concerns.

Tai made the remarks in a speech that she said outlined “the initial steps” of the Biden administration’s trade policy toward China. The White House has come under increasing pressure to define that policy, largely to resolve uncertainty about the status of the Section 301 tariffs. However, Tai gave few indications of what that policy will be, saying only that further developments will depend largely on the outcome of discussions she intends to have “in the coming days” with her Chinese counterparts.

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