CHINA/TARIFFS/TRADE WAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The U.S. Trade Representative outlined a way for companies to get their products excluded from fresh tariffs on $34 billion worth of Chinese exports that were imposed on Friday [7-6-18]. The Trade Representative’s office said the proceeding would address situations where a product was hit with tariffs because it was part of a targeted product category. Exclusions could be granted for a product, USTR said, if the tariff caused a firm ‘severe economic harm’ and the product isn’t available from sources outside China and isn’t ‘identified as benefiting from China’s industrial policies.’ Companies have 90 days to file a request, USTR said, with the filing period ending on Oct. 9. Opponents of the exclusions would have two weeks to comment on the requests. Any exclusions granted would last for one year, retroactive to July 6, 2018. Many companies have complained to the USTR that the tariff list was drawn too broadly. The exclusion process appears to be a tweaking of the U.S. tariff offensive against China, not a wholesale rethinking of the effort.”
-Bob Davis, “U.S. Trade Representative Announces ‘Exclusion’ Process for Products Hit by U.S. Tariffs on China,” The Wall Street Journal, July 6, 2018 3:48 pm