More than 140 US lawmakers, Democrats and Republicans, on Thursday urged the US Trade Representative to broadly expand a process of exclusion of tariffs on Chinese products to help US importers penalized by these surcharges.
• Read also: Electric vehicle tax credit: Ottawa threatens Washington to impose tariffs on certain products
• Read also: Multiple trade frictions despite the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement
The expiration a year and a half ago of a previous broader debarment program penalizes companies that import Chinese products for their own manufacturing, House members argue in letter to Katherine Tai.
“These cost increases undermine the competitiveness of American manufacturers whose products are now more expensive than those made by foreign competitors,” said the lawmakers, led by Democrats Ron Kind of Wisconsin and Suzan DelBene of Washington and Republicans Darin LaHood of Illinois and Jackie Walorski of Indiana.
According to them, many sectors are affected: industry, agriculture, fishing, retail, energy or even technology and services.
They claim to support the Biden administration’s policy of firmness towards China and its “unfair trade practices”.
They also believe that Beijing “must be held accountable for the commitments made to the United States” during the agreement signed two years ago.
“We share the view that we need a comprehensive and pragmatic approach to facing China’s future challenges and defending our economic interests against unfair competition,” they also write.
But they note in a statement that “at a time when many industries across our country face challenges related to Covid-19 and struggle to adjust their supply chains while remaining competitive, expanding the process exclusion would provide essential support for American workers, businesses and our economic recovery.”
On October 4, Katherine Tai indicated that Washington would begin “frank discussions” with Beijing without the intention of “inflaming trade tensions”.
She had also announced the maintenance of the punitive customs duties imposed by the previous administration on 370 billion dollars of annual Chinese products, the time of the discussions.
But at the same time, the official had launched an exemption procedure to help not Chinese companies, but small and medium-sized American companies hard hit by these surcharges.
So far, the procedure covers nearly 550 categories of Chinese imports, including industrial components, thermostats, medical supplies, bicycles and textiles.
In their letter, the lawmakers point out that this only covers 1% of initial exclusion requests.
On Wednesday, President Joe Biden had indicated that the United States had no intention of suspending customs duties for the moment, stressing that Beijing was not respecting its commitments, in particular for agricultural purchases.
But on Thursday, the price of soybeans soared in Chicago on rumors of major Chinese purchases, launching speculation on possible lifting of customs duties.
According to US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Beijing is $13 billion behind in its agricultural purchase commitments.