On Monday, December 2nd, the office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) proposed the enactment of Section 301 tariffs on French imports, covering 63 different HTS subheadings.

The proposition of tariffs is in direct retaliation to France’s newly minted digital services tax, which heavily interferes with the interests of U.S. internet and software giants operating in France.

In their current iteration, the tariffs cover 63 different HTS subheadings and affect chapters 4, 33, 34, 42, 69 and 73. The goods impacted would range from cheese, wine and foodstuffs to handbags and kitchenware.

The USTR will hold a public hearing on January 7th, 2020, with requests to appear at the hearing due by December 30th, 2019. The USTR is also accepting written comments until January 6th, 2020.

Written comments should be submitted through the Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov/. The docket number is USTR-2019-0009.

For issues with on-line submissions, please contact the USTR Section 301 line at (202) 395-5725.

Please click HERE to view a full list of impacted goods.

Shapiro will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates as they become available.