WASHINGTON, D.C., (May 27, 2021) — Americans for Free Trade, a broad coalition of American businesses, trade organizations, and workers united against tariffs yesterday sent a statement for the record regarding the Senate Finance Committee and House Ways and Means Committee’s 2021 Trade Policy Agenda hearings to Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR), Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-ID), Chairman Richard Neal (D-MA-1), and Ranking Member Kevin Brady (R-TX-8).
“As the Administration and Congress continue focusing on the U.S. economic recovery from the pandemic, a strategic trade agenda is a key element in ensuring this recovery succeeds,” Americans for Free Trade wrote. “We appreciate that several members of the Committees inquired about the status of USTR’s China review during the hearings. The China review is of critical importance and must be a top priority for the Administration. The tariffs continue to cause economic harm to businesses both small and large across the country, as well as to American consumers and workers who bear the downstream impacts of these tariffs.”
The full text of the letter may be found here and below.
Dear Chairman Wyden, Ranking Member Crapo, Chairman Neal, and Ranking Member Brady,
The Americans for Free Trade coalition, a broad alliance of American businesses, trade organizations, and workers united against tariffs, respectfully submits this written statement to include in the public record of the Senate Finance Committee and House Ways and Means Committee’s 2021 Trade Policy Agenda hearings, which took place on May 12 and 13, respectfully. We appreciate the Committees holding hearings on this important matter.
By way of background, Americans for Free Trade represents every part of the U.S. economy including manufacturers, farmers and agribusinesses, retailers, technology companies, service suppliers, natural gas and oil companies, importers, exporters, and other supply chain stakeholders. Collectively, we employ tens of millions of Americans through our vast supply chains.
As the Administration and Congress continue focusing on the U.S. economic recovery from the pandemic, a strategic trade agenda is a key element in ensuring this recovery succeeds. A robust economic recovery requires the U.S. to create and expand import and export opportunities for American businesses to reach new markets, create jobs here at home, and compete globally. It also requires the U.S. to craft a defined China policy that addresses unfair trading practices but removes ill-conceived tariffs that continue to harm all American businesses whether they are importing inputs to manufacture products domestically or finished goods. To date the U.S. has collected over $87 billion in tariffs, which are taxes paid by U.S. importers. In other words, these tariffs are paid by Americans, not China. They have caused significant financial hardship for U.S. businesses, the millions of workers they employ, and the millions of American consumers they serve. At the same time, they have failed to effectively address China’s unfair trading practices.
We appreciate that several members of the Committees inquired about the status of USTR’s China review during the hearings. The China review is of critical importance and must be a top priority for the Administration. The tariffs continue to cause economic harm to businesses both small and large across the country, as well as to American consumers and workers who bear the downstream impacts of these tariffs. In fact, Moody’s Investor Services just released a new report finding that the tariffs “hit American businesses and consumers hardest,” with China absorbing only 7.6 percent of the tariffs “while the rest of the tab was picked up by Americans.” Any delay in reviewing the China trade policy means delaying relief to these Americans – the same Americans whom Congress worked so hard to support in multiple major pieces of pandemic legislation.
We also appreciate that the Administration plans to review the section 301 tariffs on products from China as part of its “top-to-bottom” review and applaud it for wanting to take a thoughtful and deliberate approach. It is critical that this review begin immediately and identify a clear timeline for the review’s completion. This review must also include a determination as to whether the tariffs are achieving the stated objective of changing China’s policies and behavior and whether they provide any actual leverage in negotiations.
Unfortunately, the tariffs continue to cause economic harm to businesses both small and large across the country, as well as to American consumers and workers who bear the downstream impacts of these tariffs. Any delay in reviewing the China trade policy means delaying relief to these Americans – the same Americans whom Congress worked so hard to support in multiple major pieces of pandemic legislation. Time is of the essence.
This is why we support the Administration launching a new product exclusion process sooner rather than later. We are therefore deeply concerned that the Administration will not decide on whether to resume the exclusions process until it completes its overall China review. Reinstatement of a product exclusion process to provide targeted relief to Americans can happen while this review is ongoing. We strongly encourage the Committees to urge the Administration to immediately reinstate a product exclusion process and to reinstate all product exclusions that expired in 2020.
Furthermore, the previous section 301 product exclusion process had significant flaws, and we agree it needs improvement. We also appreciate that the Administration is interested in stakeholder feedback to better understand the shortcomings of the previous process. However, we are concerned that during the hearing, the Administration offered no timeline regarding when this stakeholder engagement might take place or when the broader review might be concluded. We support the Administration reaching out to stakeholders to solicit feedback on the exclusions process, and such stakeholder engagement should include American companies impacted by the tariffs. However, ample feedback has been provided to the Administration over the last several years identifying transparency, consistency, and fairness issues with the previous process, and we believe this outreach should not delay instituting a targeted process for providing relief to American businesses.
As the Administration and Congress continue to focus on the economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, lifting the section 301 tariffs on products from China is a simple, straightforward way to provide an economic boost to American families, American workers, and American businesses and to help ensure a successful economic recovery. It is also an important step to repairing relationships with U.S. trading partners and allies and restoring our standing on the world stage.
We appreciate the Committees’ continued engagement on these important issues and urge it to continue weighing in with the Administration to ensure that destructive tariffs are lifted, and that a new and more effective approach to addressing China’s unfair trading practices is adopted. We thank the Committees for holding these hearings and look forward to working with you on these important issues.
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Americans for Free Trade