BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - United States Trade Representative has issued a Federal Register Notice on Section 301 proposed tariff modifications and machinery exclusion process.
'Today, I am following through on my commitment to stand up to the People's Republic of China's unfair trade practices by issuing a formal proposal to modify the tariff actions,' US Trade Representative Katherine Tai said in a statement.
'The President has directed me to make substantial tariff increases on targeted, strategic products, and this is an important step to carry out that vision. The President and I will continue to fight for American workers, and for our economic future and national security.'
The notice, issued on Wednesday, also establishes the framework for an exclusion process for machinery, and proposes temporary exclusions for 19 tariff lines for solar manufacturing equipment. The notice establishes a 30-day period for public comment on these modifications.
On May 14, President Joe Biden signed a memorandum directing his Trade Representative to increase tariffs under Section 301 of the Trade Act on $18 billion worth of imports from China to 'protect American workers and businesses from China's unfair trade practices'.
This will result in big increase in tariffs on critical manufacturing and mining sectors.
Import of non-lithium-ion batteries, electric vehicles, medical gloves, semiconductors, solar cells, steel and aluminum products, certain critical minerals, and syringes and needles will become more costly.
Import tariff rate of electric vehicles from China will increase to 100 percent, as per the revised rate published by Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
Biden's decision is based on a statutory review conducted by USTR about China's forced technology transfer and other intellectual-property-related practices, which were the subject of the 2018 Section 301 investigation.
China has warned that US decision to steeply hike tariffs on imports from that country would affect the bilateral relationship between the two economic superpowers.
Copyright(c) 2024 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2024 AFX News
