Articles Posted in China

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After months of anticipation, on February 1, 2025, President Trump announced the imposition of significant tariffs on Mexico, Canada, and China through three Executive Orders (EOs). While additional details are expected to be published in the Federal Register in days to come, the tariffs mark a significant shift in U.S. trade policy. At this time, negotiations appear underway between the United States, Mexico, and Canada relating to the timing of the tariffs. 

Key points are outlined below.  

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On January 20, 2025, Donald J. Trump was inaugurated as the 47th President of the United States. Within hours of taking office, President Trump issued dozens of executive orders and an “America First Trade Policy” memorandum outlining his administration’s trade priorities and signaling an aggressive approach to reshaping U.S. trade, sanctions and national security policies. However, “Day 1” tariffs did not materialize despite previous announcements by President Trump that China, Canada and Mexico would be targeted. President Trump has informally suggested that 25% tariffs for Mexico and Canada and an additional 10% tariff for China remain possible by February 1, 2025.

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On September 23, 2024, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) released for public inspection a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that seeks to prohibit the sale or import of connected vehicles (CVs) with certain hardware and software that have a sufficient nexus to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) or Russia. If the Vehicle Connectivity System (VCS) hardware and the VCS and Automated Driving System (ADS) software are designed, developed, manufactured or supplied by persons owned by, controlled by, or subject to the jurisdiction or direction of the PRC or Russia, the transactions outlined below would be prohibited.

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On September 13, 2024 USTR announced modifications to the tariffs originally imposed under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 to pressure China to eliminate unreasonable policies and practices related to technology transfer and intellectual property protection. The changes reflect a comprehensive review of the duties required by statute.

USTR’s announcement follows its May 14, 2024 report on the four-year anniversary review of the Section 301 tariffs. The May 14, 2024, report stated that USTR would continue existing Section 301 tariffs on most products and proposed new or increased tariffs on products in certain strategic sectors, including lithium-ion batteries, lead acid battery parts, electric vehicles, critical minerals, permanent magnets, semiconductors, solar cells, ship-to-shore cranes, steel and aluminum and medical and personal protective equipment. USTR proposed granting certain limited exclusions for solar manufacturing equipment and for machinery used in domestic manufacturing.

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On September 12, 2024, the Biden Administration announced a number of new trade-related measures related to imports of Chinese-manufactured goods. This announcement comes as the latest action in the Biden Administration’s efforts to reinforce American manufacturing and supply chains.

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On May 14, 2024, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) published the Four-Year Review of Actions Taken in the Section 301 Investigation (“Report”), which addresses the four-year review of China-related tariffs under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (“Trade Act”) (19 U.S.C. 2411). Our previous alert on this report is available here.

On May 22, 2024, USTR published a Federal Register notice which requests comments on the proposed modifications and machinery exclusion process discussed in the May 14 report. The notice does not address the status of the current exclusions from the Section 301 duties, which are due to expire at the end of May.

Below, we discuss the proposed modifications detailed in the USTR Federal Register notice. Continue reading →

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On May 14, 2024, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) published the Four-Year Review of Actions Taken in the Section 301 Investigation (“Report”), which addresses the four-year review of China-related tariffs under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (“Trade Act”) (19 U.S.C. 2411). Our previous alert on the 2018 Section 301 Investigation findings is available here.

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This past year saw a continued trend in building supply chain resiliency, as this topic has grown increasingly important following COVID-19, the conflict in Ukraine, shifting landscape on tariffs, forced labor concerns and a number of other factors. Increasingly, supply chains are having to respond to policy concerns requiring shifting production away from China, either through onshoring or friend shoring as a means of strengthening US national and economic security interests.

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During 2023 both Congress and the Biden Administration repeatedly expressed the need to secure critical supply chains, particularly batteries that rely heavily on lithium and critical minerals sourced from China. Concerns have been framed in terms of national security focusing on the danger of relying too heavily on products integral to our defense or economy or human rights relating to enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA). Continue reading →

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In 2023, the United States sharpened its focus on deterring China’s ability to develop advanced technology with the potential to threaten U.S. national security. To do so, the U.S. government has implemented several new restrictions and requirements related to critical technologies. Some of these measures, such as the announcement of an outbound investment regime, are entirely new tools. Others, like updates to semiconductor related export controls and newly sanctioned entities, build on existing regimes.

Below, we outline several of the key developments aimed at restricting China’s technology sector which U.S. and multinational businesses should remain aware of. Continue reading →