Congress Directs USTR to Establish Exclusion Process for Products Hit by Third Wave of Section 301 Tariffs
Last week, President Trump signed into law a funding bill to keep the government open. In legislation that accompanied the spending package, Congress directed the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to implement an exclusion process for tariffs imposed on products included in List 3 of the Section 301 tariffs – a win for the recreational boating industry that NMMA worked to secure.
While not legally binding, the order – known as a Joint Explanatory Statement (JES) – calls on the USTR to initiate the exclusion process no later than March 17, 2019. Congress also instructed USTR to follow the same exclusion procedures established for Lists 1 and 2, allowing for the exclusion of particular products classified within a tariff subheading subject to List 3 duties.
Duties on List 3 products are scheduled to increase from 10 percent to 25 percent on March 2, 2019. However, due to ongoing negotiations between the U.S. and Chinese governments, it remains to be seen whether this increase will occur.
The full text of the JES can be found here.
If you have questions, please contact NMMA senior vice president of government relations and legal affairs, Nicole Vasilaros at [email protected].