Washington, D.C.--The Natural Products Association (NPA)announceda "major victory" for the natural products industry: The Office of theUnited States Trade Representative(USTR) is opening an exclusion process for List 3 China 301 tariffs, which includes many ingredients used in natural products. AsWholeFoodspreviously reported, the Trump Administration had raised existing tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese imports from 10% to 25% earlier this month.
NPA explained that the Association has been working with the Trump Administration since September 2018 to secure this exclusion process. As part of this push, NPA said it has sent thousands of letters representing hundreds of small businesses to members of Congress, urging them to contact the Administration to allow for tariff exclusions on certain ingredients that are only sourced from China and used domestically in natural products, many of which are exported back to China.
“This is a victory for NPA,” said Daniel Fabricant, Ph.D., president and CEO of NPA. "The process has been long and tedious, but we have an exclusion process which will begin on June 30. While that fight is won, we still have a lot of work to do."
Fabricant explained that the natural products industry was hit with the proposed List 4 China 301 tariffs earlier this month. The proposed List 4 includes $325 billion worth of tariffs on Chinese goods and affects the entire natural products industry including nutritional supplements, personal care products, and home care products, according to NPA, which announced its intention to formally request to testify at a June 17 hearing hosted by the USTR on this new round of 301 China tariffs.
"We applaud the Trump Administration for opening up the exclusion process and look forward to the opportunity to testify at the USTR’s upcoming hearing on the latest round of China 301 tariffs,” Fabricant said. “Without exclusions for our industry, these new China 301 tariff proposals will increase costs for small businesses and the majority of Americans who rely on dietary supplements to support their healthy lifestyles.”
