Trade Intelligence Americas Spring 2024

President Biden announced on May 14 a series of tariff increases on $18 billion of imports from China under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 (Section 301). The White House on the same day released a Fact Sheet setting forth the purpose and the details of the increases. The Fact Sheet notes that President Biden is taking this action based on an in-depth review undertaken by the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to protect American workers and American companies from China’s unfair trade practices. The USTR’s findings were published in a 193-page report the USTR released May 14 as the culmination of its lengthy Section 301 investigation, entitled Four-Year Review of Actions Taken in the Section 301 Investigation: China’s Acts, Policies, and Practices Related to Technology Transfer, Intellectual Property, and Innovation.

President Biden also on May 14 issued a memorandum to the USTR with respect to the four-year review summarized in the report linked above.

The tariff increases will affect a range of strategic sectors, such as steel and aluminum, semiconductors, electric vehicles, batteries, critical minerals, solar cells, ship-to-shore cranes, and medical products. The tariff rates will vary from 25% to 100%, depending on the product. The tariff increases will raise significantly the costs of importing these products from China and may disrupt US supply chains and markets that rely on them.