Bipartisan Letter Urges USTR to Renew All Section 301 Exclusions

Seventy-five House members, led by Rep. Jackie Walorski, R-Ind., Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Minn., Rep. Ron Kind, D-Wis., and Rep. Darin LaHood, R-Ill., are asking U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to automatically extend all product exclusions for the China tariffs. Their letter, sent Dec. 11, says that some expiring exclusions cover personal protective gear and equipment that would be used to administer vaccines. “Additionally, extending these exclusions will provide needed certainty for employers and help save jobs,” they wrote. “We recognize that the exclusions were granted in part on the premise that businesses need adequate time to relocate their supply chains out of China. However... [w]ith global travel essentially shut down, it has been difficult, if not impossible, for company representatives to travel to and inspect potential new sites and to build relationships with new partners.”