White House Takes Important Trade Enforcement Actions
Washington, D.C. — The Biden administration acted to strengthen its trade policy arsenal on Friday with the finalization of Section 301 tariff increases and new rulemaking on de minimis exemptions.
“The White House’s action on trade enforcement today sent a strong message to China that unfair trade practices that harm our workers and businesses won’t be tolerated. Section 301 tariffs will ensure that Chinese industrial overcapacity doesn’t overwhelm our domestic manufacturers. However, there’s more work to be done on another important trade front,” Alliance for American Manufacturing President Scott Paul said. “Congress must also act on de minimis and strengthen our trade laws. The House missed an opportunity to do that during ‘China Week,’ despite broad bipartisan voter support for those measures.”
As a backstop to Congressional action, it is essential that the Biden administration move as quickly as possible to execute its plans to exclude shipments containing products covered by tariffs from the de minimis loophole in U.S. law. Originally intended to allow tourists to bring souvenirs into the country without overburdening U.S. Customs officials, de minimis has been abused by foreign companies to ship goods from their offshore factories directly to U.S. consumers, bypassing duties and inspections. De minimis shipments entering the U.S. have increased from approximately 140 million annually to more than 1 billion a year, according to the White House.
“American manufacturers and their workers have fought valiantly for decades against the waves of offshoring, but Chinese companies have saturated the market with a torrential flood of shipments that enter the United States with no inspection or tariffs. Manufacturers in critical sectors, including textiles and apparel, are battling to restore our domestic supply chain and hanging on by a thread,” Paul said. “This proposal from the administration is an important step in the right direction, but Congress must enact legislation immediately to deny de minimis treatment to the worst offenders, with China at the top of that list. The Import Security and Fairness Act is a great place to start.”
The Import Security and Fairness Act would end de minimis treatment for imports from China.
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