The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) is seeking public comment on whether to continue, cancel, or expand the tariffs on goods of Chinese origin imposed pursuant to Section 301 of the Trade Act. of 1974. To that end, USTR published a list of questions  intended to guide interested parties as to the type of information they are seeking. Businesses affected by Section 301 fees should consider answering these questions because it may be the only opportunity they have left to provide formal feedback to the USTR on the fees  .

The questions are divided into three sections. Interested parties may choose to answer the questions in one, two, or all three sections.

• Section A: Impact on the  US Economy Section A invites comment on the impact the tariffs have had on the US economy and asks whether the tariffs have been effective in reducing or eliminating acts, policies and practices of China related to technology transfer, intellectual property and innovation. It is also looking for feedback on the effects of fees in terms of:
  • Capital investment, national capacity and production levels, industry concentration and profits
  • US Technology Development and Leadership
  • US workers in terms of employment and wages
  • Small companies
  • Supply Chain Resiliency
  • US consumers
• Sections B and C: Sector and Industry Outlook  . The remaining sections ask essentially the same questions, but from a sector/industry perspective (Section B) and in relation to specific tariff classification subheadings (Section C).

The USTR comment file was opened on November 15, 2022 and will close on January 17, 2023  . The dossier will allow respondents to designate portions of their comments as Business Confidential, provided they certify that disclosure of the information would jeopardize trade secrets or profitability and that such information is not generally available. Non-confidential versions of the same responses must also be provided. Respondents can attach additional documents that complement the answers.

As those affected by the fees know, nearly all of the Section 301 exclusions have expired and more are scheduled to expire on December 31. There has been no indication that the fee exclusion process will be reopened. As such, this comment period may be the only process available for companies to advocate for the removal of the fees.

For more information contact:

Jeffrey Lehtman  | Partner Miller & Chevalier | jlehtman@milchev.com