As part of the Trump administration’s continuing efforts under Section 301 to pressure the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to change its intellectual property and forced technology transfer practices, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced in the Federal Register today (1) which PRC products will be subject to a Section 301 25 percent tariff starting July 6 (Annex B), (2) which additional PRC products will undergo review to determine if they should be subject to the 25 percent tariff (Annex C) and (3) the review process for the additional PRC products.
The product lists in Annexes B and C were released last week. Today’s notice revealed for the first time the review process for the products listed in Annex C. Interested parties have until June 29 to file requests to appear at the July 24 public hearing; requests must include a summary of the expected testimony and may be accompanied by a pre-hearing submission. Parties filing written comments on the U.S. government’s proposed action must submit them by July 23, and post-hearing rebuttal comments are due by July 31. The hearing, which will start at 9:30 a.m. in the U.S. International Trade Commission’s main hearing room, will be limited to issues involving products listed in Annex C only. The notice did not address a product exclusion request process for the products listed in Annex B that will be subject to the 25 percent tariff on July 6, but indicated that a separate notice will be issued concerning that process.