Ambassador Lighthizer Testifies Before House Ways and Means Committee On Trade Relationship between United States and China -

On February 27, 2019, United States Trade Representative (“USTR”) Robert Lighthizer testified before the House Ways and Means Committee to address the trade relationship between the United States and China. At the hearing, the Committee members largely focused on the progress being made in the on-going trade agreement talks between the two countries. They also pressed Ambassador Lighthizer on the status of the tariffs imposed on Chinese imports under Section 301. Section 301 is the statute that allows the President to impose duties on imports from countries that do not adequately protect the intellectual property rights of U.S. entities doing business in those countries.

The United States and China initiated the current round of trade talks to address the United States’ longstanding concerns over China’s trade policies, which have resulted in growing trade tensions between the two countries. Over the past year, tensions have escalated due to the United States’ imposition of additional tariffs on approximately $250 billion of Chinese imports under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, as well as China’s decision to impose retaliatory duties on U.S. exports to China worth approximately $110 billion.