Rep. WalorskiU.S. Reps. Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.) and Ron Kind (D-Wis.), along with Senators James Lankford (R-Okla.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.), recently sent a letter to U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer urging him to continue to grant tariff exemptions to products that previously received an exclusion until the tariffs are completely lifted.
“Allowing previously granted exclusions to expire automatically even though there is no change in circumstances would be a mistake,” the members wrote, “and we urge you to ensure that products granted an exemption continue to be exempted from tariff application under any list until the tariffs have been completely lifted. Doing so would benefit thousands of U.S. businesses and American families.”
The letter also requests that USTR inform Congress of any resources needed to fully implement the List 3 exclusion process. The members of Congress thanked Lighthizer for creating an exclusion process for List 3 and emphasized it is in the best interest of the nation to automatically renew product-wide exclusion granted under the List 1 and 2 exclusion process.
Earlier this year, Walorski and Kind introduced the bipartisan, bicameral Import Tax Relief Act, which would require the Executive Branch to create an exclusion process for List 3 (and any future list) of Chinese imports subject to Section 301 tariff imposition. In the Senate, a companion version was introduced by Lankford and Coons.
A signed copy of the letter is available here.
