In a March 23 announcement, U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai bared that 549 products made in China were subject to tariffs. Following an extensive review of the total list, Tai said the Biden administration would reinstate 352 products as exempted from the Section 301 tariffs.
Solar water heaters, breast pumps, garage door openers, X-ray tables and thermostats are some of those included in the 352 China-made items exempt from tariffs. The exemption list also included food products such as crab meat, Dungeness crab and Alaskan sole. Alternating current and direct current electric motors, printed circuit board assemblies and automated data processing storage units also made it to the list.
Tai's office invited comments from the public regarding the 549 items subject to tariffs back in October 2021. The March 23 announcement "was made after careful consideration of the public comments, and in consultation with other U.S. agencies."
"[The] USTR considered whether or not reinstating the exclusion would impact or result in severe economic harm to … U.S. interests – including the impact on small businesses, employment, manufacturing output and critical supply chains," stated the announcement. It added that Tai also looked at "the overall impact of the exclusions on the goal of obtaining the elimination of China's acts, policies and practices covered in the Section 301 investigation."
But according to Breitbart, the products imported from China eliminated 3.7 million American jobs from the U.S. economy from 2001 to 2018.
Trump first announced the tariffs in 2018 as part of Section 301 of the U.S. Trade Act of 1974. Under the law, the president is allowed to punish foreign governments who violate international trade agreements or restrict American commerce. These penalties include imposition of tariffs, which Trump did on the aforementioned products.
Tariff exemptions another blow to US manufacturing industry
Back in December 2021, Breitbart reported about a bipartisan group of lawmakers from the House of Representatives urging Biden and Tai to exempt all China-made products from tariffs.
Reps. Darin LaHood (R-IL), Jackie Walorski (R-IN), Ron Kind (D-WI) and Suzan DelBene (D-WA) penned a letter calling on the trade representative to expand the tariff exclusions "in order to support American workers, businesses and our economic recovery." The four also denounced the use of tariffs against businesses that have outsourced their manufacturing to China, claiming that the tariffs have caused the prices of these goods to increase.
Several Republicans also signed the letter, first among them House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA). Other lawmakers include Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), Burgess Owens (R-UT), Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), Ken Buck (R-CO), Young Kim (R-CA) and Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH).
Zach Mottl, chairman of the nonprofit Coalition for a Prosperous America, denounced Tai's move. "Once again, multinational importers and their army of Washington lobbyists have protected their ability to import cheap Chinese goods over sourcing from American manufacturers," he said in a statement. (Related: U.S. consumers got hooked on cheap Chinese imports but the coronavirus is about to expose what a HUGE mistake this was.)
"We are disappointed that the Biden administration granted exclusions to the [Section] 301 tariffs on many Chinese products that have alternatives that are made or could be made right here in America, or are made outside of China. As China supports and enables Russia's aggression against Ukraine, we should be decoupling rather than providing their companies [with] revenue from U.S. consumers," Mottl continued.
"We will continue to fight against those in Congress who want to use taxpayer dollars to refund importers that profit off of cheap Chinese goods, as well as efforts to weaken the [Section] 301 tariffs."
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Watch the Fox Business report below about CEOs calling for then-President Donald Trump to remove tariffs on China-made products.
This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com.
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Sources include:
USTR.gov 2 [PDF]
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