Washington, DC, September 18, 2018–On the evening of September 17, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) published a list of Chinese imports to be tariffed; vinyl flooring (including LVT), ceramic tile, engineered hardwood and carpet are included on that list (vinyl, 3918.10.10; ceramic, 6907.21.10 to 6907.40.90; enginneered hardwood, 4418.73.10 to 4418.79.01; carpet, 5701.10.13 to 5705.00.20).
“In accordance with the direction of President Trump, the additional tariffs will be effective starting September 24, 2018, and initially will be in the amount of 10%,”the official release reads. “Starting January 1, 2019, the level of the additional tariffs will increase to 25%.”
As expected, the tariffs impact approximately $200 billion worth of Chinese goods and reports that the tariffs are levied, “As part of the United States’ continuing response to China’s theft of American intellectual property and forced transfer of American technology.”
“The list contains 5,745 full or partial lines of the original 6,031 tariff lines that were on a proposed list of Chinese imports announced on July 10, 2018. Changes to the proposed list were made after USTR and the interagency Section 301 Committee sought and received comments over a six-week period and testimony during a six-day public hearing in August. USTR engaged in a thorough process to rigorously examine the comments and testimony and, as a result, determined to fully or partially remove 297 tariff lines from the original proposed list. Included among the products removed from the proposed list are certain consumer electronics products such as smart watches and Bluetooth devices; certain chemical inputs for manufactured goods, textiles and agriculture; certain health and safety products such as bicycle helmets, and child safety furniture such as car seats and playpens.”
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