Reston, Va. – Association for PRINT Technologies (APTech) Vice President, Government Affairs Mark J. Nuzzaco commends scores of members of congress for urging United States Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer to establish an exclusion process for the latest group of Section 301 U.S. tariffs imposed on products coming from China. Specifically, he lauds U.S. Representatives Jackie Walorski (R-2-Ind.) and Ron Kind (D-3-Wis.) for leading the effort calling on Lighthizer to establish a process that allows U.S. companies to request an exclusion from the most recent tariffs imposed on $200 billion of Chinese imports (List 3).

As Reps. Walorski and Kind stated, “This process would help U.S. companies retain global competitiveness and would help target the effects of the tariffs on China, rather than on U.S. companies and Consumers.” Exclusions were established for all previous rounds of tariffs, both Section 301 Chinese (Lists 1 and 2), as well as Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum. Regretfully, an exclusion process has been omitted for List 3 Chinese tariffs. Reps. Walorski and Kind were joined by a bipartisan coalition of 167 Members of Congress in their appeal to Lighthizer.

APTech’s Nuzzaco says that the Association “wholeheartedly agrees” with Rep. Walorski that “[w]e need to hold China accountable [for unfair trade practices], but we need to do it in a way that doesn’t harm American manufacturers, farmers, workers, and consumers.” And APTech concurs with Rep. Kind that “[t]he very least this Administration can do is provide businesses the ability to petition their government to prove their case that these tariffs will hurt their businesses, workers, and customers alike.”

List 3 Chinese tariffs took effect on September 23, 2018 and are currently applied to over 5,700 products at a rate of 10 percent, which will automatically increase to 25 percent on January 1, 2019. A 25 percent tariff was previously imposed on nearly 1,400 Chinese imports valued at approximately $50 billion. The very sizable third list of tariffed products particularly merit the opportunity to seek exclusions, as it will necessarily have an even larger detrimental impact on U.S. companies, consumers, and American life.

The Walorski /Kind letter can be read here. A similar letter was also sent by Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA). Two additional letters are being organized by Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA) and U.S. Representative Bill Pascrell (D-9-NJ).

APTech is committed to working to provide a tariff exclusion process that ensures that U.S. companies can seek relief from tariffs when there are no alternative suppliers of the tariffed goods, or if other special circumstances exist that could harm their ability to compete in the global marketplace. The Association urges its members to contact their elected members of congress (and APTech Vice President, Government Affairs Mark J. Nuzzaco) to tell them how you are affected by Chinese 301 tariffs, as well as Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum, and to thank them for supporting the inclusion of an exclusion process for List 3 Chinese imports.

APTech is comprehensively tracking tariff developments on its Tariff Portal at: www.printtechnologies.org/IndustryAdvocacy/tariff-updates/new-aptech-tariff-portal/. For more information contact Vice President, Government Affairs, Mark J. Nuzzaco at phone: 703/264-7235, or e-mail: [email protected].