TRADE AGREEMENT

The phase one trade agreement the United States recently concluded with mainland China does not sufficiently address many of the most significant problems in the bi-lateral trade relationship, lawmakers and witnesses said during a 26 February hearing before the House Ways and Means Committee. However, some witnesses said prospects for concluding a subsequent phase two agreement that does tackle those problems are uncertain at best. More

Medical supplies, pharmaceuticals, auto parts, microelectronics and strategic raw materials are among the sectors whose supply chains could be impacted by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in mainland China, according to a recent report from the Congressional Research Service. More

The Section 301 additional tariff on List 4A goods imported from mainland China will be reduced from 15 percent to 7.5 percent on 14 February. CBP guidance states that any covered article that is entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on 14 February will be subject to the 7.5 percent duty rate in addition to the applicable general (Column 1) duty rate. More

The United States and mainland China signed on 15 January a phase one trade agreement under which the United States has suspended some tariff increases and will roll back others in return for what the White House called “structural reforms and other changes to China’s economic and trade regime.” Formal notice of the reduction in the tariff on List 4 goods from 15 percent to 7.5 percent will be published in the next few days and will apply from 14 February. More