Energy attorney Morten Lund was quoted in E&E News in an article titled “Trump seeks high tariffs on China's energy products,” published April 4, 2018. The article discusses how tariffs on more than 1,000 Chinese products announced recently by the Trump administration might end up affecting different areas of the U.S. economy—by increasing businesses’ costs if they use Chinese products and consumers' prices as China responds with billions of dollars of tariffs on U.S. products, which have already included soybeans, autos, wine, pork and other items.
The new tariffs, on top of penalties on steel and aluminum and tariffs on solar products previously imposed by the administration, could have a ripple effect on the energy supply chain and larger economy. Many businesses that use Chinese goods to make their products may see the cost to produce their items increase, but pinpointing how they will be impacted may be difficult as the U.S. government's classification system for imported products, known as the Harmonized Tariff Schedule, doesn't necessarily classify items the same way industry does.
"The harmonized schedules are a tricky little beast," Lund said. "Almost certainly one of these product categories is going to hit us, but we don't yet know which."