The United States Trade Representative (“USTR”) Katherine Tai announced 25% additional tariffs on approximately $2 billion worth of imported goods from Austria, India, Italy, Spain, Turkey, and the United Kingdom (“UK”), which have adopted Digital Service Taxes (“DSTs”).  However, USTR also immediately suspended the tariffs for 180 days to provide additional time for ongoing multilateral negotiations on international taxation issues at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (“OECD”) and Group of 20 (“G20”).  As a result, these tariffs are not scheduled to take effect until November 29, 2021.

The products affected include glassware from Austria; furniture and jewelry from India; footwear and handbags from Italy; footwear and shellfish from Spain; carpets and linens from Turkey; and apparel and beauty products from the UK. To see the full range of products subject to the 25% Section 301 DST tariffs, see the lists under Annex B of the Notice of Action for each country.

USTR initiated the Section 301 DSTs investigation on June 2, 2020 but terminated the investigation with respect Brazil, the Czech Republic, the European Union, and Indonesia on March 26, 2021, because they chose not to adopt DSTs previously under consideration.  The investigation continued with respect to Austria, India, Italy, Spain, Turkey, and the UK until June 2, 2021, when the final determination was announced.  USTR similarly suspended Section 301 DSTs tariffs on imports from France on January 6, 2021.

Husch Blackwell continues to monitor USTR’s Section 301 DSTs tariffs and will provide further updates.  

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