American Enterprises have Taken Action and Chinese Enterprises shall Wait No Longer
Release time：2018-08-01 11:14
On Tuesday, 24th July (EST), the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) once again initiated a public hearing at the headquarters of the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) in Washington, D.C. There was a fierce defense against whether should slap 25% tariff on the Chinese exports with 284 tariff codes to America, which are worth 16 billion US dollars.
Lawyer Xinze Liu, Director of Washington D.C. Office of Beijing DHH Law Firm, and American Lawyer Yongchang Tang, Business Director of Washington D.C. Office, once again representing the interests of Chinese-funded companies in the United States, submitted comments on the tariff codes mentioned above. As the only Chinese law firm in the U.S., Washington D.C. Office of Beijing DHH Law Firm issued an objection to additional tariffs and an exclusion opinion on the exclusion of tariff products with other 70 American enterprises and chambers of commerce or associations respectively.
During this hearing, representatives of American enterprises from the chemical, tire, electronics and solar industries and chambers of commerce or associations made remarks, and as much as 90% of them disapproved of the issue. The reasons for their opposition included that China was the only source of country for related products; that relevant American enterprises had expanded and put into mass production; and that additional tariffs would cause serious damages to American economy. For example, Charlie Souhrada, on behalf of North American Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers, said that most of the relevant enterprises in this industry were small and medium-sized enterprises or family businesses, which had already suffered from the former 25% tariff slapped on $34 billion Chinese exports to the US. This 25% tariff slapped on $16 billion Chinese exports to the U.S. would further affect the production and operation of such small and medium-sized enterprises—with increasing cost of production and burden on consumers as well as unemployment rate, which would cause their bankruptcy.
Lawyer Xinze Liu, Director of Washington D.C. Office of Beijing DHH Law Firm, and American Lawyer Yongchang Tang, Business Director of Washington D.C. Office, once again representing the interests of Chinese-funded companies in the United States, submitted comments on the tariff codes mentioned above. As the only Chinese law firm in the U.S., Washington D.C. Office of Beijing DHH Law Firm issued an objection to additional tariffs and an exclusion opinion on the exclusion of tariff products with other 70 American enterprises and chambers of commerce or associations respectively.
During this hearing, representatives of American enterprises from the chemical, tire, electronics and solar industries and chambers of commerce or associations made remarks, and as much as 90% of them disapproved of the issue. The reasons for their opposition included that China was the only source of country for related products; that relevant American enterprises had expanded and put into mass production; and that additional tariffs would cause serious damages to American economy. For example, Charlie Souhrada, on behalf of North American Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers, said that most of the relevant enterprises in this industry were small and medium-sized enterprises or family businesses, which had already suffered from the former 25% tariff slapped on $34 billion Chinese exports to the US. This 25% tariff slapped on $16 billion Chinese exports to the U.S. would further affect the production and operation of such small and medium-sized enterprises—with increasing cost of production and burden on consumers as well as unemployment rate, which would cause their bankruptcy.
Washington D.C. Office of Beijing DHH Law Firm was the only law firm in China that had thoroughly participated in the full procedure of the Section 301 Investigation since the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) officially launched the Section 301 Investigation in China on August 18th, 2017. On October 10th, 2017, Washington D.C. Office of Beijing DHH Law Firm actively participated in the first hearing for the Section 301 Investigation. On May 5th, 2018, Lawyer Xinze Liu, Executive Director of Washington D.C. Office of Beijing DHH Law Firm, Lawyer Yongchang Tang, Business Director of Washington D.C. Office of Beijing DHH Law Firm, on behalf of China General Chamber of Commerce in the U.S. (CGCC) and hundreds of Chinese member enterprises in the U.S., had a second opportunity to give voices and organized the powerful Six Panel against the Section 301 Investigation with representatives from China Chamber of International Commerce, China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery, China General Chamber of Commerce in the U.S. (CGCC), Southeast University and other groups side by side. At the same time, after the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced the rules and procedures for interested parties applying to exclude specific products out of the scope of taxation in the list on July 6th, Washington D.C. Office of Beijing DHH Law Firm was also the only law firm that represented the American importers to exclude specific products for the Section 301 Investigation and submit to the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR).
Before the hearing, Lawyer Xinze Liu, Executive Director of Washington D.C. Office of Beijing DHH Law Firm, Lawyer Yongchang Tang, Business Director of Washington D.C. Office of Beijing DHH Law Firm, also visited governmental attorneys responsible for the Section 301 Investigation from well-known law firms in Washington D.C., American government officials and representatives of American chambers of commerce or associations. In this way, they got the information that the true purpose of the Section 301 Investigation towards China which conducted by Trump Administration since 2017 was to slow down the speed of China's economic development, so that U.S. enterprises could return to the U. S. domestic market, and then fulfill the promise of Trump's campaign pledge to revive the U. S. economy. Therefore, it was not difficult to explain Trump's recent national security investigation (232 Measure), export control and investment restrictions on China's imports of steel and aluminum products.
Considering the situation that American enterprises have taken active actions, Chinese enterprises should immediately unite American importers and industry associations to apply for the exclusion of specific products out of the scope of taxation in the list. Washington D.C. Office of Beijing DHH Law Firm would continue to provide policy guidance and technical support for Chinese enterprises as well as Chinese-funded enterprises in the United States involved in the Section 301 Investigation.
