On Monday, October 4, US Trade Representative Katherine Tai gave
a speech outlining the Biden Administration's approach to the
US-China trade relationship. While the speech was light on
specifics, it provided for the first time a framework through which
to view President Biden's trade policies on China. From
SPB's perspective, the speech contained two notable takeaways
for US businesses.
First, and perhaps most notable for importers,
Ambassador Tai confirmed that the Administration would launch a new
“targeted tariff exclusion process” for the tariffs
imposed under the Trump Administration and that remain in place
today. On Tuesday, USTR released further details on this new
product exclusion process (
here). The process announced by USTR does not apply to all
products impacted by the Section 301 tariffs, but rather is an
opportunity to comment for or against reinstating 549 previously
granted exclusions, most of which expired in December 2020. The
public comment
