NAM Asks Administration to Complete China Strategy Quickly, Restore Section 301 Exclusions

The National Association of Manufacturers CEO is calling on the Biden administration to "act as quickly as possible to finalize and publicize [its China] strategy. Such a clear, robust strategy on China, including U.S.-China trade, would be critical in bolstering manufacturers’ efforts to retain and hire American workers, invest in domestic operations and adjust supply chains, and providing meaningful opportunities for manufacturers to seek targeted relief from broad application of Section 301 tariffs."

CEO Jay Timmons wrote on Aug. 31 to the U.S. trade representative, the secretaries of State, Treasury and Commerce, and top economic and national security advisers to the president. He said that NAM members recommend that the administration hold China accountable for its promises to expand market access to American exports and battle intellectual property theft. He said that the administration should restart talks with China on industrial overcapacity, state-owned enterprises and forced technology transfer. He also said that the strategy must be coordinated with our allies.

Timmons said that USTR needs to both provide expedited procedures to consider extensions of lapsed Section 301 exclusions and a process to apply for exclusions. Exclusions are badly needed for struggling businesses that have been harmed by the pandemic, he said, and restoring exclusions "would also provide additional time for companies that are seeking to diversify supply chains but have been delayed due to COVID-19 travel and business disruptions to do so.

"Manufacturers believe that the creation of such a tariff exclusion process can be implemented in a manner that would not undermine the administration’s broader efforts to address serious concerns with China’s economic behavior, concerns that we share."