China-US Call Touches on Tariffs; USTR Official Says Liquidation Issues Prevented Broader Retroactivity

The U.S. summary of a weekend call between U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and China's Vice Premier Liu He, the lead negotiator of the phase one agreement, did not use the word tariffs, though it said the two countries would "consult on certain outstanding issues."

But the Chinese news agency Xinhua wrote, "The Chinese side lodged representations on the lifting of additional tariffs and sanctions and expounded its position on such issues as China's economic development model and industrial policy."

The call, which was on Oct. 9 in China, but the evening of Oct. 8 in the U.S., was preceded by a background call from top Office of the U.S. Trade Representative officials for reporters. In that call, an official said Tai's goal was to tell Liu how China's non-market practices harm American workers, and to commit to forge a trade relationship that is managed responsibly.

International Trade Today asked why Section 301 tariff exclusions that are renewed will only be retroactive to Oct. 12, rather than to the last time they expired. The official said that it's a better process to have a firm deadline that applies to all companies. If you were to allow retroactivity to the last time the tariffs were waived, "some of those entries will have [been] liquidated," she said, which would present an administrative challenge.

Both the Chinese and U.S. summaries talked about how Tai and Liu spoke about implementation of the trade agreement during the Trump administration. The Xinhua report said, " the two sides conducted pragmatic, candid and constructive exchanges" on the Phase I agreement, on how bilateral trade is important to both economies, and "both sides expressed their core concerns and agreed to resolve each other's legitimate concerns through consultation."

Tai said she would follow up with the vice premier in the near future.