After a brief truce in the trade dispute between China and the United States, the two countries decided to impose 25% surcharges on various products. As of July 6, 2018, 818 Chinese products worth $34 billion will be overtaxed upon arrival in the United States. Beijing will also impose surcharges on U.S. imports worth 34 billion dollars.

In addition to the list of 818 products of Chinese origin that will be overtaxed, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer announced that a second list of Chinese imports worth $16 billion will be subject to further review, including public consultation sessions. This second list, once specified, will also be subject to surcharges. In total, overtaxed Chinese products are estimated to account for about $50 billion in imports to the United States.

It should be recalled that to justify the imposition of these tariffs, the Trump Administration relies on the investigation under section 301 of the trade legislation into alleged technology transfer practices and intellectual property infringements by China.

It is important for Canadian exporters sending products to the United States to pay attention to the country of origin of those products. It should be noted that even if a product is shipped from Canada, it does not mean that it is automatically of Canadian origin; it may be of Chinese origin if it is manufactured in China, and then exported to Canada, and finally exported to the United States.

For any additional information, our consultation service remains at your disposal at consultations@w2c.ca or by telephone at 514 368-2637, option 2.