WASHINGTON — On Aug. 23, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) started collecting Section 301 tariffs on $16 billion worth of Chinese imported products. In response, China has implemented retaliatory tariffs on $16 billion worth of goods exported by the United States. AHRI submitted comments to the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) on July 23 opposing the second round of tariffs.

AHRI analyzed the second round Section 301 tariff list. The tariffs include HVACR and water heating member products, such as heat exchangers, motors, components, and control equipment.

The (USTR) will soon release details of an exclusion process for the products listed above. The USTR will also determine whether to collect tariffs on a third round of products — $200 billion worth of goods — after a public hearing and comment process.  AHRI will file comments with the USTR by Sept. 6 urging it to remove all AHRI member products from the third tariff list.

Further, if the USTR decides to increase the proposed tariff rate from 10 percent to 25 percent for the third list, China promised to implement $60 billion worth of retaliatory tariffs, including HVACR and water heating member products. Trade officials from China and the United States met Aug. 22-23 in Washington D.C. in an effort to de-escalate trade tensions.

Please see AHRI's Tariff Tracker for a full summary of tariff actions that the United States and major U.S. trading partners have taken in relation to the U.S. Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum, and the U.S. Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imported products.

Publication date: 8/24/2018

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