WASHINGTON (BRAIN) — Industry hopes for exclusions from the Trump administration’s Section 301 tariffs were disappointed with the announcement Thursday that the new tariffs of 10% and 12.5% will take effect Friday at 12:01 a.m. and will apply to 99.4% of all imports, including those from the major bike-producing nations of Taiwan, China, Cambodia, Vietnam and Malaysia.
The exclusions include some agricultural products, aerospace and defense products, medical and humanitarian donations.
The new tariffs replace an existing 10% tariff imposed under Section 122 which was set to expire at 12:01 a.m. Friday. The Court of International Trade ruled the administration's use of Section 122 illegal, and some importers have hopes of eventually being refunded tariffs they've paid under Section 122, but the decision is under appeal.
The new tariffs are being imposed under Section 301, which allows the president to impose tariffs on countries that engage in “unreasonable or discriminatory trade practices,” including forced labor. The administration said some countries don’t have laws against the importation of products produced with slave labor, while others have laws that are not enforced effectively.
The tariffs apply to imports from Canada, but not Canadian imports that are subject to the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which includes Canadian-made bicycles. Separately, Trump has threatened a 50% tariff on Canadian imports — including those covered by USMCA — under a different trade law (Section 338 is part of the Tariff Act of 1930, better known as the Smoot-Hawley Act.) That tariff would take effect Aug. 18.
It’s not clear from the initial announcement whether the new tariffs would stack on top of existing tariffs such as the 25% Section 301 tariffs on most Chinese imports.
The notice says that products tariffed under Section 232, which includes some steel and aluminum items, are not subject to the new tariff. That includes steel bikechains from China and some other items used for manufacturing.
Most of the bike-producing nations are on a list of 54 countries whose products are hit with the 12.5% tariffs. The list of six countries whose products are subject to the 10% tariff are Canada, Ecuador, the European Union, Indonesia, Mexico, and Pakistan.
A 431-page notice from the U.S. Trade Representative includes details.
