AAFA Asks Biden to Renew Section 301 Exclusions on Masks, Restore Expired Exclusions

The American Apparel and Footwear Association told President Joe Biden that the Section 301 exclusion that covers cloth masks will be expired on April 1, and that it needs to be extended past then, since the COVID-19 pandemic will not be over. They said in a news release that without that exclusion, the tariff rate on personal protective equipment will double.

The group told Biden in a letter that Section 301 tariffs were not removed on medical scrubs, surgical gowns or isolation gowns, or the materials that are used to make them, and they asked that both those tariffs and the normal tariffs be removed. “[W]e need a PPE tariff policy that does not harm our immediate medical and health needs,” they wrote Feb. 24.

In addition to highlighting the looming exclusion expiration, the industry also requested that the president direct the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to reinstate the Section 301 product exclusion process, which provides the opportunity for American businesses to apply for relief from the punitive tariffs that have been placed on imports from China. Further, AAFA also urged the U.S. government to reinstate previously expired tariff exclusions. “In all these cases, the facts that supported their initial exclusion is still intact,” AAFA CEO Steve Lamar said. “Although these items do not directly support COVID-19 medical needs, the economic relief that removing these punitive tariffs will have for these companies is undeniable.”