NEWS FLASH: USTR finalizes first round of China tariffs

Agency says it has a second round in the works, for which it will collect public comments and hold a hearing to gather input.    The United States will follow through with 25 percent tariffs on approximately $50 billion worth of goods from China in 2018 import value, mainly including industrially significant technology products spread across 1,102 U.S. tariff lines, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced Friday.
   “Two sets” of U.S. tariff lines will be covered by the measures, including a first set of 818 lines — totaling $34 billion — of the original 1,333 lines included on a proposed list published April 6, USTR said.
   The second set comprises 284 tariff lines identified by the interagency Section 301 Committee as benefiting from Chinese industrial policies, including the “Made in China 2025” industrial policy, and the set covers about $16 billion worth of imports from China.
   U.S. Customs and Border Protection will start to collect duties on the first set of products on July 6, USTR said.
   The second set of products will undergo a public notice and comment process, including a public hearing, after which USTR will issue a final determination on the products from the list that would be subject to the duties, the agency said. USTR did not mention an expected implementation date of the second round of tariffs, should the Trump administration move forward in imposing them.
   USTR will “soon provide an opportunity” for the public to request exclusion of “particular products” from the duties to be imposed under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, and will issue a notice in the Federal Register with details on this process within the next few weeks, USTR said.
   President Donald Trump in a statement said that the United States would pursue additional tariffs if China retaliates through new duties on U.S. goods, services or agricultural products or through raising non-tariff barriers or taking punitive actions against U.S. exporters or U.S. companies operating in China.
   “If the United States takes unilateral, protectionist measures, harming China’s interests, we will quickly react and take necessary steps to resolutely protect our fair, legitimate rights,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said during a news briefing, Reuters reported Friday.
   The Embassy of China in Washington didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
   “This situation is no longer sustainable,” Trump said in a statement. “China has … long been engaging in several unfair practices related to the acquisition of American intellectual property and technology. These practices, documented in an extensive report published by the United States Trade Representative (USTR) on March 22, 2018, harm our economic and national security and deepen our already massive trade imbalance with China.”