U.S. Trade Dispute with China - September 2018 Update
Nexsen Pruet is carefully monitoring the recent actions of the United States and its trading partners regarding trade and tariffs. David S. Robinson, Special Counsel and International Business attorney, elaborates on some of the most recent developments.
Recent U.S. Trade Actions
On September 24, 2018, additional tariffs on roughly $200 billion in Chinese imports went into effect. Chinese reciprocal tariffs on $60 billion in U.S. exports to China also kicked in.
In total, in 2018, the United States has increased the tariff rate on almost half of China’s exports to the United States.
With the $60 billion in reciprocal tariffs imposed by China, the anticipated next move by the Trump Administration will be to move ahead with an additional $267 billion in tariffs on, essentially, the remainder of China’s exports to the United States.
The recently added 10% tariff rate was imposed on $200 Billion worth of Chinese products. The additional 10% tariff rate is set to increase to 25% by January 1, 2019.
Originally aimed at 6,031 Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) codes, after a public comment period, the U.S. Trade Representative removed 297 HTS codes from the original list and imposed the additional tariff on 5,745 full or partial HTS lines.
The U.S. Trade Representative announcement can be accessed here.
The final tariff list from this latest round of tariffs can be accessed here.
The U.S. Trade Representative is accepting product exclusion requests until October 9, 2018 (via the www.regulations.gov portal), for products impacted by an earlier round of tariffs on Chinese imports.
The product exclusion process can be found, in detail, here.
We anticipate the U.S. Trade Representative will announce a product exclusion process for the recently added tariff rates. We continue to monitor these developments and are actively assisting with HTS code analyses and product exclusion requests.
About David S. Robinson
Few attorneys understand the opportunities and dynamics of global trade better than Nexsen Pruet's David Robinson, Special Counsel and International Business attorney. Based in Raleigh, N.C., he assists clients in cross-border transactions around the world. He helps global businesses integrate corporate compliance and operational programs into subsidiary operations, facilitate the transfer of personnel among operations, comply with export control and boycott regulations and negotiate commercial and joint venture relationships.
Nexsen Pruet is one of the largest law firms in the Carolinas, with more than 190 attorneys and offices in Columbia, Charleston, Greenville, Hilton Head and Myrtle Beach, S.C., as well as Charlotte, Greensboro and Raleigh, N.C. Founded in 1945, Nexsen Pruet provides a broad range of legal services to the business community and represents companies and other entities in local, state, national and international venues.
About Maynard Nexsen
Maynard Nexsen is a full-service law firm with more than 550 attorneys in 24 offices from coast to coast across the United States. Maynard Nexsen formed in 2023 when two successful, client-centered firms combined to form a powerful national team. Maynard Nexsen’s list of clients spans a wide range of industry sectors and includes both public and private companies.
