Some Critical Baby and Children's Products Exempted from Tariffs - JPMA to Continue to Advocate for Additional Exemptions

MOUNT LAUREL, N.J., Sept. 19, 2018 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Yesterday, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) released a list of approximately $200 billion worth of Chinese imports that will be subject to incremental tariffs. In accordance with the direction of President Trump, the additional tariffs will be effective starting September 24, 2018, and initially will be in the amount of 10 percent. As of January 1, 2019, the level of the additional tariffs will increase to 25 percent unless a broader trade agreement is reached.

The final list contains 5,745 full or partial lines of the original 6,031 tariff lines that were on the proposed list of Chinese imports announced on July 10, 2018. The original list contained HTS codes related to a variety of baby products including car seats, cribs, high chairs and play yards, among others. Changes to the proposed list were made after the USTR and the interagency Section 301 Committee sought and received comments over a six-week period, and testimony during a six-day public hearing in August.

JPMA was highly engaged during this period and both submitted comments and provided oral testimony on behalf of the industry, urging the USTR to provide exemptions for critical and often life-saving childcare articles. JPMA also engaged in extensive outreach individually and through coalition partners urging that baby products should not be subject to tariffs and promoting the social media hashtag #nobabytariffs.

For the final list, the USTR fully or partially removed 297 tariff lines from the original proposed list. The baby products industry received a disproportionately large share of the exemptions granted and relief was noted for certain HTS codes related to car seats, high chairs, play yards and some other nursery gear. However, car seat component parts, cribs, bassinets, diaper bags, wooden safety gates, and packaging are among products that will remain subject to the full tariff.

"JPMA is grateful for the USTR's acknowledgment that child safety products are worthy of exclusion, and for the codes granted relief," said Kelly Mariotti, JPMA Executive Director. "We are hopeful that the philosophy of protecting babies will continue through the exclusion request review process and in future rounds of tariff considerations. Many baby products, including cribs and component parts used to produce car seats domestically, still remain subject to the new tariffs, and higher prices will ultimately impact families' access to these items."

JPMA submitted an official letter of acknowledgment and thanks to USTR, urging the organization to further review exclusion requests. JPMA continues to advocate against tariffs on baby products, taking a leadership role on the Executive Committee for Americans for Free Trade.

ABOUT JPMA

The Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association (JPMA) is the voice of the industry on quality and safety for baby and children's products. We do this by:

• Advocating for safety through product certification programs and legislative and regulatory involvement;
• Supporting a broad and diverse membership through member-only programming and industry promotion;
• And by acting as a comprehensive source for baby product information and education.

JPMA members represent 95 percent of the prenatal to preschool products sold in North America.

To find out more about JPMA, our certification program and products certified, and for a complete listing of JPMA members, please visit http://www.jpma.org. Follow JPMA on Twitter @JPMA and connect with us on Facebook to learn about additional safety tips and JPMA initiatives.

SOURCE JPMA