USTR's three-day hearing ended July 9 after testimony on proposed additional duties of 10% to 12.5% against 60 economies, producing arguments over how a forced-labor remedy should distinguish products, countries and supply chains rather than dividing industry neatly into tariff supporters and opponents. [1]

The paper's July 8 account of the Section 301 process building a possible tariff baseline said 46 economies faced the proposed 12.5% tier while temporary Section 122 authority approaches its July 24 expiry and no final decision existed; Thursday's completed hearing adds demands for precision rather than that missing action.

The National Council of Textile Organizations backed action against forced-labor trade while asking for a "thoughtful, nuanced, surgical" design, agriculture and other import-dependent industries sought exemptions, and the textile supply chain, an interested party in the proceeding, said it employs about 453,000 workers and exported $27 billion in products last year. [2]

Support for enforcement therefore did not equal consent to one flat duty, and no verified Trade X post covered the hearing's design dispute. Because no final USTR action, applicable rate, exemption schedule or country disposition arrived with the close, 10% and 12.5% remain proposed rates and witness demands remain requests rather than policy for officials to accept, narrow or reject after reviewing the testimony and written submissions from affected industries across all 60 named economies individually.

-- HENDRIK VAN DER BERG, Brussels