The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) released a list of proposed tariffs on Tuesday in response to China's lengthy record of intellectual property rights (IPR) violations.
The announcement comes after an August order Trump signed that directed the USTR to investigate China under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. The USTR was required to share the list of products by Friday under President Trump’s China tariff proclamation signed on March 22.
Said Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM) President Scott Paul:
If China doesn't play by the rules, it should lose some of its access to the U.S. market. Otherwise, nothing will change and American jobs will continue to suffer at the hands of Beijing's practices.
Manufacturers of everything from computers to metals have been forced to compete against the very products they spent years and significant financial resources to develop after Chinese companies illegally lifted proprietary knowledge.
The administration's proposed actions will help restore some balance with China, as well as recreate an environment where some of the millions of jobs we've lost to China will have a chance of being restored.
A recent USTR report found that "the protection and enforcement of trade secrets in China is a serious problem" and highlighted concerns with the Chinese government and military infiltrating American computer systems "for the purpose of providing commercial advantages to Chinese enterprises."
An AAM resource outlines the need for action due to years of China's forced technology transfer, discriminatory licensing restrictions, state-coordinated technology acquisition, and cyber-theft. To view the resource and to learn more about China's IPR theft, visit AmericanManufacturing.org.