Americans for Free Trade Asks Congress to Push for Tariff Relief

A group of 160 companies and trade groups is asking Congress to urge the administration to bring back temporary duty deferral, and to lift all Section 301 tariffs, or at the very least, improve the percentage of exclusion approvals and extend them for a year.

The letter, led by Americans for Free Trade, said in bold type, “We urge Congress to insist that the Administration lift all punitive China tariffs immediately before any further damage is done to the U.S. economy.” They said that the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found in a survey that the trade war with China cut $1.7 trillion from the market value of publicly traded U.S. companies.

They complained that the U.S. trade representative's statement, in June 17 testimony before House and Senate committees, that companies should have shifted from Chinese suppliers during their exclusions (see 2006170008) demonstrates “a fundamental lack of understanding regarding the complex business decisions that determine where global supply chains are developed and whether they can or should be moved.”

The group said duty deferral freed up cash for companies to pay critical bills and buy personal protective equipment for workers, but that some companies weren't able to take advantage of it in May. In bold type, the letter said: “[W]e ask for the Committee’s support in urging the Administration to: (1) extend the duty deferral policy to cover imports through at least the summer months; (2) apply the policy retroactively; (3) broaden the scope of duties that may be deferred; and (4) modify the hardship test to allow companies in different circumstances to defer duties.” The duty deferral did not apply to Section 301 duties, only to most favored nation tariffs.