Here Comes The Main Event: Trade War With China, And What Is Section 301
by Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge.com
Wed, 03/14/2018
The recently announced global steel and aluminum tariffs (with various exemptions) by the Trump administration were just a (Section 232) preview of the main event: Trump’s imminent trade war with China, which as Credit Suisse previews, will be unveiled any moment in the form of tariffs and restrictions on trade with China, reportedly in retaliation for Chinese IP violations.
First, a reminder on the all-important Section 301:
What is Section 301? Section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act allows the President to, among other things, “impose duties or other import restrictions on the products of [a] foreign country,” if the President determines that that country is violating a trade agreement or “engages in discriminatory or other acts or policies which are unjustifiable or unreasonable and which burden or restrict United States commerce.“ The U.S. relied heavily on the provision during the Reagan era (an administration in which the current USTR Robert Lighthizer served as Deputy USTR) into the early 1990s, but it has been used infrequently since the World Trade Organization was formed in 1995 and provided a forum for dispute resolution.
The Rest…HERE
