Official portrait of President Donald J. Trump, Friday, October 6, 2017. (Official White House photo by Shealah Craighead)

As you are aware, yesterday, President Trump imposed a September 1st deadline for an additional $300 billion in tariffs on Chinese goods if a trade deal is not reached.

The $300 billion covers the remaining items not previously listed in Lists 1, 2 or 3. The List 3 exclusion process is currently underway and Commerce recently published lists of additional exclusion requests that have been granted in Lists 1 and 2.

Here is a summary of what has been reported by various news outlets:

1. There has been no progress in trade talks with China this week in Shanghai between Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and their Chinese counterparts.
2. Trump believes China is moving too slow in working on a deal and set September 1st as a deadline to impose duties on the remaining imports of goods from China.
3. The new duties if imposed in September will be at 10%. We have seen goods in List 1, 2, 3 have tariffs as high as 25%.
4. Some news outlets report that China may be stalling to sign a trade deal until after the 2020 election.
5. September 1st would mark an end to a “truce” between the two countries.
6. China has threatened to respond with their own retaliatory tariffs if Trump goes through with the September 1st deadline.
7. Trump claims China has not gone through with their promise to buy more agricultural products from the US in large quantities.
8. Trump also claims China would curtail the shipments of Fentanyl to the United States, but has not and the shipments continue to harm Americans.
9. According to reports, Chinese negotiators want Trump to remove the tariffs on $250 billion in Chinese goods before they will purchase US agricultural goods and comply with their other concessions.
10. Trump believes the US economy is strong as unemployment has hit a 50-year low, a position that will enable the US to outlast China in the event of a prolonged trade war.
11. Analysts claim further duties will only hurt Americans in increasing the prices of goods.
12. Shipping companies and importers are trying to get as many shipments into the US prior to the September 1st deadline.

Will post more news as they become available. If you have any questions how the 301 duties will impact your business, contact David Hsu at: dh@gjatradelaw.com, attorney.dave@yahoo.com or by phone/text at 832-896-6288.