Careers

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Experience

Innovation

Interactive Maps

Locations

About

Pages

Meet our team of innovators
Ask us how we do it

Professionals

Insights

Services

Thompson Hine LLP, a full-service business law firm with approximately 400 lawyers in 11 offices, was ranked number 1 in the category “Most innovative North American law firms: New working models” by The Financial Times and was 1 of 7 firms shortlisted for The American Lawyer’s inaugural Legal Services Innovation Award. The firm has been recognized by the National Law Journal as a Legal Technology Trailblazer and featured by Bloomberg for its innovative service delivery models, which drive accuracy and predictability. The firm’s commitment to innovation is embodied in Thompson Hine SmartPaTHTM – a smarter way to work – predictable, efficient and aligned with client goals. For more information, please visit ThompsonHine.com and ThompsonHine.com/SmartPaTH.

Home | Thompson Hine LLP

Atlanta

Chicago

Cincinnati

Cleveland

Columbus

Dayton

Los Angeles

Minneapolis

New York

Silicon Valley

Washington, D.C.

At the direction of President Donald Trump and due to recent progress in trade negotiations with China, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced that the Section 301 duty rate for certain products imported from China &ldquo;will remain at 10 percent until further notice.&rdquo; The announcement will be formally published in the Federal Register.
On September 24, 2018, the Trump administration had implemented this 10 percent tariff on $200 billion worth of Chinese products imported into the United States (see <a href="https://www.trumpandtrade.com/2018/09/united-states-implement-additional-import-tariffs-200-billion-chinese-products/">Trump and Trade update of September 19, 2018</a>). These tariffs were set to increase to 25 percent on January 1, 2019, but the president and the USTR announced in December 2018 (see <a href="https://www.trumpandtrade.com/2018/12/ustr-announces-delay-increase-duties-section-301-third-tranche-products-imported-china/">Trump and Trade update of December 17, 2018</a>), and again in February 2019 (see <a href="https://www.trumpandtrade.com/2019/02/president-trump-tweets-postponement-of-additional-section-301-tariffs/">Trump and Trade update of February 25, 2019</a>), postponements of their self-imposed deadline for increasing the tariff to 25 percent.
With this announcement, the tariffs on products covered under USTR&rsquo;s <a href="https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/enforcement/301Investigations/Tariff%20List%20%2883%20FR%2047974%2C%20as%20amended%20and%20modified%20by%2083%20FR%2049153%29.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">China Section 301 List/Tranche 3</a> will indefinitely remain at 10 percent. What now remains unresolved is whether the USTR will initiate an exclusion request process for these products while the tariff rate remains at 10 percent. Upon passage of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019, Congress in an accompanying explanatory statement required USTR to initiate an exclusion request process for this third list (see <a href="https://www.trumpandtrade.com/2019/02/consolidated-appropriations-act-funding-government-includes-requirements-sections-232-301-tariff-exclusion-processes/">Trump and Trade update of February 19, 2019</a>). In his testimony this week before the House Ways &amp; Means Committee, however, Ambassador Robert Lighthizer indicated that an exclusion request process would be instituted on the third tranche of Chinese products only if those tariffs were increased to 25 percent (see <a href="https://www.trumpandtrade.com/2019/02/ustr-lighthizer-testifies-before-house-ways-means-committee-on-u-s-china-trade/">Trump and Trade update of February 28, 2019</a>). In response to this stance by the USTR, members of both the House of Representatives and Senate have recently introduced legislation &ndash; the <a href="https://www.lankford.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senators-lankford-coons-representatives-kind-walorski-introduce-import-tax-relief-act-" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Import Tax Relief Act</a> &ndash; specifically requiring that the Trump administration implement a tariff exclusion request process for this list of Chinese products.

core/freeform

SmarTrade

U.S. Trade Representative Announces Section 301 Tariffs on Imports of List 3 China Products Will Remain at 10 Percent