Contact: Sarah Abel

Phone: 202-225-5506

Sarah.Abel@mail.house.gov  

Washington, DC – Today, Rep. Ron Kind called on United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai to establish a new exclusion process that allows U.S. businesses to request relief from the Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports. At a time when many companies and their workers are struggling due to the COVID-19 pandemic, implementing this new process would help support domestic businesses and target the effects of the tariffs on China, rather than U.S. companies and consumers.

Rep. Kind was joined by Reps. Darin LaHood (R-IL), Suzan DelBene (D-WA), and Jackie Walorski (R-IN) in leading the bipartisan coalition of over 100 Members of Congress.

“Wisconsin producers, employers, workers, and communities are already dealing with economic difficulties due to the COVID-19 crisis, and now many are facing an additional burden due to these tariffs. While we all agree that we need to hold China accountable for unfair trade practices, we must do so in a way that doesn’t harm American companies and supports good-paying jobs right here at home. I’m committed to working alongside the administration to ensure we find a safe landing zone for farmers and businesses across Wisconsin,” said Rep. Ron Kind.

An exclusion process is vital to ensuring that U.S. companies can seek relief in the event that there are no alternative suppliers of the good, or if other special circumstances exist that could harm their ability to compete in the global marketplace. The lapse of critical exclusions, many of which expired on December 31, 2020, handed many businesses and their workers a significant bill while budgets were already tight.

Read the bipartisan letter here. 

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