The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative “properly exercised its authority” under the Section 307 modification provisions of the 1974 Trade Act when it ordered the imposition of the lists 3 and 4A Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports, the Court of International Trade ruled in an April 1 opinion. Test-case plaintiffs HMTX Industries and Jasco Products, plus the more than 3,600 complaints that followed, sought to vacate the tariffs on grounds that lists 3 and 4A were unlawful without USTR launching a new Section 301 investigation.
The Court of International Trade dealt a blow to the over 3,600 lawsuits challenging Lists 3 and 4A Section 301 China tariffs covering over $200 billion in goods, finding that the U.S. Trade Representative had the authority to impose the tariffs. In the highly-anticipated opinion, the court ruled against the plaintiffs' argument that the USTR could not impose Section 301 tariffs because the government was responding to retaliatory tariffs from China.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
Senators on the committee that oversees trade pressed U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai repeatedly on why the administration isn't engaged in negotiations with other countries to get them to lower their tariffs, so that U.S. exporters, particularly agricultural producers, can gain more market share. Both Democrats and Republicans questioned the decision to pursue the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework as something other than a traditional free trade agreement,
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai endorsed the Level the Playing Act during a four-hour hearing in front of the House Ways and Means Committee after one of its House sponsors noted the House and the Senate are about to go to conference, and the proposal to rewrite antidumping duty and countervailing duty laws is going to be on the table.
Rep. Kevin Brady, the top Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, said that when Republicans meet privately with U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai ahead of her testimony March 30, they will argue that the Section 301 exclusions announced last week (see 2203230070) were far too limited.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of March 21-27:
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
A senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute says U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai "seems unable to persuade the White House" to fashion new tools to confront China, and complains that if the administration has postponed a second Section 301 investigation, that's a mistake.
A leading voice in the House behind the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act introduced a bipartisan bill that would remove permanent normal trade relations from China and instead would require annual affirmations from the administration that "the Chinese government is making serious and sustained improvement in respecting human rights" in order to retain most-favored-nation tariffs.