Section 301: US begins tariff review process against China
The United States Trade Representative (USTR) on Tuesday began the legal process required before the four-year anniversary of the tariff measures in the Section 301 investigation of China‘s laws, policies and practices related to the transfer of technology, intellectual property and innovation.
In 2018, the Trump Administration, acting under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, concluded that China engages in forced technology transfer and cyber theft of US intellectual property and trade secrets, among other allegations.
In response, he increased tariffs on $250 billion of imports from China and then authorized other tariff hikes in the same direction, up to a total of $370 billion.
The first step in the process is to notify the representatives of the domestic industries benefiting from the tariff actions of the possible termination of such actions and of the opportunity for the representatives to request continuation.
If a continuation request is received, the USTR will conduct a review of the tariff measures.
Thus, the USTR is notifying representatives of domestic industries benefiting from the tariff actions through letters to interested parties who previously submitted comments in support of the tariff actions and by issuing a Federal Register notice.
Continuation applications must be filed before the four-year anniversary of the action, which is July 6, 2022, for the first action in the investigation.
Section 301
If one or more continuation requests are filed, USTR will post an additional notice after July 6 announcing the continuation of the rate action and proceed with a rate review.
The review will include an opportunity for all interested persons to provide comments.
The first phase in the four-year review process includes notifying representatives of the national industries benefiting from the two commercial actions under Section 301, as amended, of the possible termination of the actions and of the opportunity for these representatives request the continuation of the actions.
The process may result in the continuation, modification or termination of fees.
