On May 3, 2022, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) issued a notice initiating a statutory four-year review of Section 301 tariffs on imports of certain Chinese products initially implemented by the Trump administration.
In its notice, the USTR is seeking comments from domestic industries benefiting from the two Section 301 tariff actions, which became effective July 6, 2018 and August 23, 2018, on their continuation. Otherwise, these actions are set to expire on their four-year anniversary dates. These two actions involve the assessment of Section 301 tariffs on products with an approximate annual trade value of $34 billion effective July 6, 2018 (List 1), and on products with an approximate annual trade value of $16 billion effective August 23, 2018 (List 2). The USTR subsequently issued notices modifying these actions to impose additional tariffs on various other imports of Chinese products identified in different tranches commonly known as Lists 3 and 4A on September 21, 2018 and August 20, 2019, respectively. To ensure comprehensive coverage of the review, the USTR will consider the List 3 and List 4A modifications as applicable to both the July 6, 2018 action and the August 23, 2018 action.
Domestic industry representatives may submit their requests for the July 6, 2018 and August 23, 2018 actions between May 7, 2022 and July 5, 2022 and between June 24, 2022 and August 22, 2022, respectively. Submission should be made at https://comments.ustr.gov/s/. If no request is received, the Section 301 trade actions will terminate on July 6, 2022 and August 23, 2022, respectively. If the USTR receives such a request, it will announce the continuation of these actions, and will undertake a review of the effectiveness of the actions in achieving Section 301 objectives, other actions that could be taken, and the effects of such actions on the U.S. economy, including consumers. The USTR will then open a separate portal for interested persons to submit their comments addressing these issues.