Policy Alert – Trump Renews Imposition of Tariffs on Chinese Imports

The President announced in a tweet yesterday that his administration will impose 10% tariffs on $300 billion of Chinese imports starting on September 1, after backing off from the threat in early July.

The list of affected products was originally announced on May 13, and includes recreational fishing equipment such as fishing rods, reels, line and artificial baits.

The American Sportfishing Association (ASA) and many of its members officially requested exclusions for fishing equipment during the public comment period on the proposed new tariffs. In addition, ASA staff have held numerous meetings on Capitol Hill with Congressional and administration officials, including a productive meeting with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative earlier this week.

In these discussions, ASA has made the case that recreational fishing equipment should be excluded from tariffs primarily because the sportfishing industry already pays a unique 10% excise tax on equipment that funds conservation projects across the nation.An additional tariff on top of this excise tax would cause harm to the bottom lines of ASA members, deter fishing participation and reduce conservation funding.

It is unclear at this stage if any modifications to the original list of products will be made before these new tariffs go into effect. ASA will continue to keep you up to date as more information is available.