President Trump signed an executive order today that would levy tariffs on as much as $60 billion in Chinese imports. The tariffs, which will be announced by the U.S. trade representative within 15 days and finalized after a comment period, are expected to target up to 1,300 product categories.
Earlier this week, PPAI joined with 44 other associations and trade groups representing a broad coalition of the U.S. business community in a letter to President Trump that opposed tariffs as a remedy to the United States 301 investigation on China’s trade practices. There are serious concerns regarding China’s trade policies and practices include market access barriers and state-directed investment policies, and technology transfer and data localization mandates, among other issues. However, PPAI and its co-signers argue that placing tariffs on products that are legitimately produced and traded is not the solution. Instead, they urge the Administration to take measured, commercially meaningful actions consistent with international obligations that benefit U.S. exporters, importers and investors, rather than penalize the American consumer and jeopardize recent gains in American competitiveness.
Opponents of the decision maintain that imposing tariffs on electronics and other products would raise prices for American consumers and companies, and would not do much to address the problems that stem from unfair trade practices in China. Effectively, the increased costs would impose a tax on consumers and businesses.
The list of products covered by the tariffs is expected to be published within the next 15 days. It will be followed by a 30-day comment period that gives PPAI, its partner organizations and the promotional products industry an opportunity to urge the Commerce Department to reduce and limit the range of products affected by the tariffs. PPAI encourages industry practitioners to contact their members of Congress and urge them to oppose these harmful tariffs.
