Last week, the White House announced a 100% Section 232 tariff on large drones and critical components, citing their dual-use applications. The duties are set to take effect on September 3.
Congress’s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) moved forward last week, with both the House and the Senate advancing, at different stages, separate versions of the annual defense bill. On Friday, the House passed its version of the bill by a narrow margin of 217-199, while the Senate Armed Services Committee approved its own version by a vote of 22-3 to advance to the Senate floor.
In recent weeks, the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) has made a series of announcements related to the package of new Section 301 tariffs targeting $18 billion of Chinese imports. These announcements, taken together with the results of USTR’s review of the original Section 301 actions, suggest tariffs will be an enduring feature of the US-China trade landscape for years to come.
In recent years, the United States and China have expanded their respective trade controls and sanctions systems to cover a broadening segment of bilateral commerce. The rapid pace of expansion, complexity of rules systems, and lack of transparency on both sides have raised compliance costs, injected significant uncertainty into business planning, and disrupted business relationships between both countries.
With carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) and methane emerging as the two main areas of consensus on climate cooperation between the United States and China, both areas present opportunities for companies operating in these fields. Climate envoys John Podesta and Liu Zhenmin focused on these two areas during a meeting in Washington, DC, in early May.
In an interview with TIME magazine published on Tuesday, President Joe Biden defended recently announced Section 301 tariff hikes, saying they are a necessary and proportionate response to unfair Chinese economic practices.
Nearly half a year after the introduction of State Council Document 11 (“24 Measures”), the State Council issued Document 9 (“New 24 Measures”), which vows to expand market openings for foreign producers of gene diagnostic and treatment technologies as well as advanced medical equipment.
The Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) announced that it would only extend existing Section 301 tariff exclusions for 352 products and 77 COVID-related medical care items until June 14. They were previously set to expire today.
On the heels of announcing tariff hikes last week, the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) yesterday issued a federal register notice (FRN) on its new tariff exclusions process. USTR is expected to issue another FRN soon that will decide the fate of existing exclusions, which are set to expire at the end of the month.
The last few months have seen multiple developments affecting US companies that operate in the transportation industry. For starters, President Joe Biden directed USTR to increase Section 301 tariffs on Chinese EVs and EV batteries, the US Department of Commerce launched an inquiry into China’s involvement with the connected vehicle supply chain, MOFCOM and PBOC released policies to boost automobile consumption, and the United States and China increased the number of passenger flights permitted to operate between the two countries.
US-China bilateral trade in goods decreased by 2.9 percent year-on-year in Q1, despite US-worldwide trade increasing by 0.5 percent, the first such increase in US-worldwide trade since Q1 of last year. Bilateral trade has underperformed US-worldwide trade for the last three years due to shifts in trading patterns driven by economic and geopolitical factors.
