WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) and 40 of his Senate colleagues recently sent a bipartisan letter to U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai calling for the Administration to establish a more comprehensive exclusion process for imports from China subject to tariffs under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 in order to allow more small businesses and manufacturers to access relief.

Following the expiration of the previous Administration’s tariff exclusion process, the Biden Administration relaunched an exclusion process in October 2021. However, this process is more narrow in scope and limited to certain products. In their letter, the senators ask the Administration to take a more comprehensive approach to ensure that American businesses and manufacturers can receive much needed relief—especially with the challenges imposed by the continuation of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We write to express our strong support for establishing a comprehensive exclusion process for U.S. manufacturers, producers, and importers to request relief from tariffs placed on products from China pursuant to Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974,” the senators wrote. “We believe that a comprehensive exclusion process that gives an opportunity for businesses affected by the tariffs to apply for limited, yet renewable, relief is a valuable component of our strategy to counter China’s unfair trade practices. In addition to easing the tariffs’ negative impacts on U.S. businesses, it would also give those businesses additional time and resources to move supply chains out of China and return manufacturing to the United States.”

Read the full letter here.

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