Biden Administration Renews Tariff Exemptions For Some Chinese Products: WSJ

The Biden administration renewed tariff waivers for 352 categories of goods from China after previously granted exemptions expired, reported the Wall Street Journal.

The items include certain kinds of bicycle parts, electric motors, machinery, chemicals, seafood, and duffel bags.

The mentioned goods had all been previously exempted from the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration as part of its trade war with China in 2018 and 2019; these exemptions have expired. The tariffs imposed in 2018 and 2019 covered more than $350 billion a year's worth of trade.

The USTR considered whether goods were available within the U.S. or third countries if changes in global supply chains had affected the availability of products and the companies' efforts to find alternate sources while conducting the review.

According to U.S. Trade Representative's office, the Biden administration reviewed 549 categories of goods for which waivers were sought granted 352 exclusions while denying the rest.

"USTR considered whether or not reinstating the exclusion would impact or result in severe economic harm to the commenter or other U.S. interests, including the impact on small businesses, employment, manufacturing output, and critical supply chains," stated the USTR in the formal notice of its action.

The USTR declined to renew exclusions on 197 categories of products.