USTR to Launch List 3 Tariff Exclusion Process, Bowing to Congressional Pressure

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer will bow to congressional pressure and launch a product exclusion process this month for the third tranche of 10 percent tariffs on Chinese imports. So said Lighthizer in a written reply to Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., after his Feb. 27 appearance before the House Ways and Means Committee (see 1902270047) where he acknowledged broad congressional support for the List 3 exclusion process. “I have stated in my testimony before the Committee, and in correspondence with individual Members of Congress, that USTR would initiate an appropriate exclusion process for List 3 if the duty rate on those tariffs were raised to 25 percent,” he told DelBene. “Members of Congress believe that we should have an exclusion process for List 3. For this reason, we have begun preparations to launch a process by the end of the month.” The “devaluation of the Chinese currency” since List 3 took effect Sept. 24 lessened the cost impact to importers of the 10 percent tariffs, Lighthizer told the Ways and Means hearing as his rationale for not wanting a List 3 exclusion process unless the duties rose to 25 percent. President Donald Trump in February postponed the List 3 tariff increase indefinitely (see 1902250001).