USTR opposes Senate-backed restart of Section 301 exclusion process

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative this week told Democratic senators it opposes language in the Senate’s U.S. Innovation and Competition Act that would mandate restarting a robust Section 301 tariff-exclusion process, saying the provisions would undermine the administration’s efforts to address unfair Chinese trade practices. Section 73001 of the China-focused legislation sets out a “Process for exclusion of articles from duties under section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974,” as stated in the bill. It includes language...