US Treasury promises exclusion process on higher China tariffs - Reuters

As reported by Reuters, the US Treasury Department is looking to create an exclusion process for business leaders hoping to dodge higher Chinese tariffs should trade talks between the two nations fail.

Key quotes

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has assured lawmakers that companies will be able to request exclusions on tariffs on $200 billion worth of goods under discussion with Beijing if talks do not yield a deal by the March 2 deadline.

Lighthizer told U.S. Senators he will extend a process of requesting exclusions that is currently only available on an earlier round of 25-percent tariffs on $50 billion worth of goods. U.S. companies currently have no recourse to seek exemption on the latest round of 10-percent tariffs rolled out in September.

If the talks don’t yield a deal by the deadline, Washington is set to proceed with higher tariff rate, which many companies have warned could cause supply disruptions.

“If the duty rate on the $200 billion tariff actions is raised to 25 percent, USTR will initiate an appropriate exclusion process,” Lighthizer said in a letter dated Jan. 11 to pro-trade Republican Senator Pat Toomey.