Importers lose appeal in Section 301 tariff increase challenge

A federal appeals court on Thursday upheld the Court of International Trade’s finding that the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative had the authority to drastically increase tariffs on China under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, handing a loss to thousands of importers who had claimed the first Trump administration improperly imposed the levies on $320 billion worth of Chinese goods. CIT in March 2023 ruled that USTR was within its statutory authority to expand Section 301...