Agriculture Committee Chair Collin Peterson (D-MN) and Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-IN) have introduced legislation to extend tariff exclusions on Chinese goods, they said in a July 16 statement.
The bill would extend any exclusions to tariffs imposed on Chinese goods under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 for one year, “unless the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) finds the product is strategically important or related to ‘Made in China 2025’ or other Chinese industrial programs and extending the exclusion would cause severe harm to the United States,” the statement said. Any exceptions must be divulged to the House Ways & Means and Senate Finance committees, the bill text notes. Walorski is a member of the Ways & Means Committee.
Citing the protection of “American farmers, manufacturers, workers, and families,” Walorski said “Extending these exclusions for another year is a commonsense way to provide businesses with the long-term certainty they need, especially during the coronavirus crisis.”
The Trump administration has imposed tariffs on roughly $370 billion worth of tariffs on Chinese goods since taking office in 2017. As of January 2020, according to a recent Congressional Research Service report, 52,746 tariff exclusion requests had been submitted to USTR; 6,450 had been accepted, 39,782 had been denied, and 6,514 were still being processed.