1 UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE + + + + + 301 COMMITTEE + + + + + SECTION 301 TARIFFS PUBLIC HEARING + + + + + TUESDAY JUNE 18, 2019 + + + + + The 301 Committee met in the Main Hearing Room of the U.S. International Trade Commission, 500 E Street SW, Washington, D.C., at 9:30 a.m., Arthur Tsao, William Busis and Megan Grimball, Chairs, presiding. PRESENT *WILLIAM BUSIS, Chair, U.S. Trade Representative MEGAN GRIMBALL, Chair, U.S. Trade Representative ARTHUR TSAO, Chair, U.S. Trade Representative RUSSELL ADISE, Department of Commerce SALIM MOIZ BHABHRAWALA, Department of Commerce CHRISTOPHER BLAHA, Department of Commerce ANDREW DEVINE, Department of Agriculture *WENNY DONG, Department of Commerce *BON FLEMING, Department of State *KEVIN GILMARTIN, Department of the Treasury DREW HART, Department of the Treasury JESSICA HUANG, Department of Commerce BILL JACKSON, U.S. Trade Representative TERRENCE McCARTIN, U.S. Trade Representative MEGAN NAYLOR, Department of State ROBIN ROARK, Department of Commerce PETER SECOR, Department of State *MATTHEW SHAILER, Department of Agriculture Neal R. Gross and Co., Inc. (202) 234-4433 Washington DC www.nealrgross.com 2 TANYA SMITH, Small Business Administration ANDREW STEPHENS, Department of Agriculture RICH STETSON, Department of Commerce MATT SULLIVAN, Department of the Treasury *CRISTINA VON SPIEGELFELD, Small Business Administration AUDREY WINTER, U.S. Trade Representative *SHELLY ZHAO, U.S. Trade Representative ANNE ZOLLNER, Department of Labor ALSO PRESENT BILL BISHOP, International Trade Commission TYRELL BURCH, International Trade Commission WITNESSES PRESENT FABIO ALT, Dainese CRAIG ANDERSON, Publishers Clearing House JAMES ARCHIBALD, Wm. T. Burnett and Co. ROBERT BECKWITH, Velocity Outdoor, Inc. STANLEY BERNARD, Drexel Chemical Company ANDY BINDER, HP Inc. JON CHAMBERLAIN, Evenflo Company Inc. ROBERT DeHAAN, National Fisheries Institute ERIN ENNIS, US-China Business Council BILL FAGERT, The Wooster Brush Company MATTHEW FASS, Maritime Products International FRED FERGUSON, Camp Chef JAMIE FIOCCO, American Booksellers Association ADAM FREEDMAN, Makrite North America ROBERT GAITHER, Shen Wei USA WANG GUIQING, China Chamber of Commerce For I/E Machinery and Electronic Products WILLIAM HANVEY, Auto Care Association RICHARD HARPER, Outdoor Industry Association STUART HUDSON, Gorton's Inc. LISA JACOBSON, Business Council for Sustainable Energy STAN JANTZ, Evangelical Christian Publishers Association JOHN KARSON, FX Mineral, Inc. DEVI KELLER, Semiconductor Industry Association ROBERT LAUTERBACH, Ball Corporation Neal R. Gross and Co., Inc. (202) 234-4433 Washington DC www.nealrgross.com 3 WITNESSES PRESENT RICK LITTLE, Everest Group USA JEFF PECK, S'Well Bottle BRANDON PECKMAN, Real Trading, LLC MIKE POWELL, Primos Hunting DANIEL REYNOLDS, Workman Publishing MIKE RUSSO, SEMI MARK SCHOENWALD, HarperCollins Christian Publishing M. LUISA SIMPSON, Association of American Publishers GEORGE SOUZA, Endeavor Seafood Inc. JON SYVERSRON, Archery Trade Association JIAN TAN, China Chamber of International Commerce RICHARD TINBERG, The Bradford/Hammacher Group JONATHAN VINER, KIK Custom Products TOM VINING, National Elevator Industry Inc. MICHAEL WAHL, AMG Aluminum North America, LLC JESSICA WASSERMAN, Red River Foods RONALD WEINBERG, Channel Products JARED WESSEL, BYD Motors LAUREN WILK, Aluminum Association RUFUS YERXA, National Foreign Trade Council HAICHENG ZHU, Zhejiang Chession Law ROBERT ZUANICH, Silver Bay Seafoods GARY ZURN, Big Rock Sports Neal R. Gross and Co., Inc. (202) 234-4433 Washington DC www.nealrgross.com 4 CONTENTS PANEL 9 Brandon Peckman, Real Trading, LLC . .10 Michael Wahl, AMG Aluminum North America, LLC . .17 John Karson, FX Mineral, Inc.. .22 James Archibald, Wm. T. Burnett and Co.. .28 Robert Lauterbach, Ball Corporation. .32 Lauren Wilk, Aluminum Association. .37 Rufus Yerxa, National Foreign Trade Council. .44 PANEL 10 Jamie Fiocco, American Booksellers Association. .65 Daniel Reynolds, Workman Publishing. .70 Mark Schoenwald, HarperCollins Christian Publishing . .76 Craig Anderson, Publishers Clearing House. .81 M. Luisa Simpson, Association of American Publishers . .86 Stan Jantz, Evangelical Christian Publishers Association. .93 PANEL 11 Jian Tan, China Chamber of International Commerce . 119 Erin Ennis, US-China Business Council. 123 Lisa Jacobson, Business Council for Sustainable Energy . 125 Andy Binder, HP Inc. 129 Haicheng Zhu, Zhejiang Chession Law. 134 PANEL 12 Robert Gaither, Shen Wei USA . 159 Adam Freedman, Makrite North America . 165 Fabio Alt, Dainese . 171 Teresa Hack, Channel Products. 176 Stanley Bernard, Drexel Chemical Company . 186 Neal R. Gross and Co., Inc. (202) 234-4433 Washington DC www.nealrgross.com 5 PANEL 13 Stuart Hudson, Gorton's Inc. 200 George Souza, Endeavor Seafood Inc.. 205 Jessica Wasserman, Red River Foods . 209 Robert DeHaan, National Fisheries Institute. 214 Matthew Fass, Maritime Products International. 221 Robert Zuanich, Silver Bay Seafoods. 228 PANEL 14 William Hanvey, Auto Care Association. 249 Tom Vining, National Elevator Industry Inc.. 254 Jared Wessel, BYD Motors . 260 Mike Russo, SEMI . 266 Devi Keller, Semiconductor Industry Association. 272 Wang Guiqing, China Chamber of Commerce For I/E Machinery and Electronic Products. 278 PANEL 15 Jon Chamberlain, Evenflo Company Inc.. 297 Jeff Peck, S'Well Bottle . 302 Richard Tinberg, The Bradford/Hammacher309 Group. 309 Rick Little, Everest Group USA . 314 Jonathan Viner, KIK Custom Products. 318 Bill Fagert, The Wooster Brush Company . 322 PANEL 16 Fred Ferguson, Camp Chef . 346 Gary Zurn, Big Rock Sports . 352 Mike Powell, Primos Hunting. 357 Richard Harper, Outdoor Industry Association. 361 Jon Syverson, Archery Trade Association. 368 Robert Beckwith, Velocity Outdoor, Inc.. 373 Neal R. Gross and Co., Inc. (202) 234-4433 Washington DC www.nealrgross.com 6 1 P-R-O-C-E-E-D-I-N-G-S 2 9:28 a.m. 3 MR. BURCH: Would the room please come 4 to order? 5 CHAIR BUSIS: Good morning and 6 welcome. 7 The Office of the United States Trade 8 Representative in conjunction with the 9 interagency Section 301 Committee is holding this 10 public hearing in connection with the Section 301 11 investigation of China's acts, policies, and 12 practices related to technology transfer, 13 intellectual property, and innovation. 14 As explained in the notice published 15 on May 17, 2019, the United States Trade 16 Representative at the direction of the President 17 is considering a modification of the action being 18 taken in the investigation in the form of 19 additional duties of 25 percent on a list of 20 products from China with an annual trade value of 21 approximately $300 billion. 22 The purpose of this hearing is to Neal R. Gross and Co., Inc. (202) 234-4433 Washington DC www.nealrgross.com 7 1 receive public testimony regarding the proposed 2 tariff action. The Section 301 Committee will 3 carefully consider the testimony and the written 4 comments, including post-hearing rebuttal 5 comments, and will then make a recommendation to 6 the Trade Representative. 7 Before we proceed with the testimony, 8 I will provide some procedural and administrative 9 instructions and ask the Agency Representatives 10 participating in the hearing to introduce 11 themselves. 12 This hearing is scheduled for seven 13 business days, concluding next Tuesday, June 14 25th. Today is the second day of the hearing. 15 We have 55 panels of witnesses scheduled to 16 testify with over 300 individuals. 17 The provisional schedule has been 18 posted on the USTR website. We have eight panels 19 of witnesses scheduled to testify today. We will 20 have a brief break between panels and a 50-minute 21 break for lunch. 22 Each witness appearing at the hearing Neal R. Gross and Co., Inc. (202) 234-4433 Washington DC www.nealrgross.com 8 1 is limited to five minutes of oral testimony. 2 The light for you will be green when you start 3 your testimony. Yellow means you have one minute 4 left and red means your time has expired. 5 After the testimony from each panel of 6 witnesses, the Section 301 Committee will have an 7 opportunity to ask questions. The Committee 8 representatives will generally direct their 9 questions to one or more specific witnesses. 10 As stated in the May 17th notice, 11 post-hearing comments including any written 12 responses to questions from the Section 301 13 Committee are due seven days after the last day 14 of the hearing. 15 As noted, the hearing is scheduled to 16 conclude on June 25th which means that all post- 17 hearing comments are due by no later than July 18 2nd. The rules and procedures for written 19 submissions are set out in the May 17th notice. 20 Given the number of witnesses in the 21 schedule, we request that witnesses when 22 responding to questions be as concise as Neal R. Gross and Co., Inc. (202) 234-4433 Washington DC www.nealrgross.com 9 1 possible. 2 Witnesses should recall that they have 3 a full opportunity to provide more extensive 4 responses in their post-hearing submissions. No 5 cameras or video or audio recording will be 6 allowed during the hearing. 7 Written transcripts of the hearing 8 will be posted on the USTR website and on the 9 Federal Register docket. 10 We are pleased to have international 11 trade and economic experts from a range of U.S. 12 Government agencies. I invite them to introduce 13 themselves. 14 MR. GILMARTIN: Kevin Gilmartin, the 15 Treasury Department. 16 MR. SHAILER: Matt Shailer, the 17 Foreign Agricultural Service, USDA. 18 MS. ZHAO: Shelly Zhao, USTR. 19 MS. DONG: Wenny Dong, Department of 20 Commerce. 21 MR. FLEMING: Bon Fleming, Department 22 of State. Neal R. Gross and Co., Inc. (202) 234-4433 Washington DC www.nealrgross.com 10 1 MS. VON SPIEGELFELD: Cristina von 2 Spiegelfeld, SBA, Small Business Administration. 3 CHAIR BUSIS: And I am Bill Busis, 4 Deputy Assistant, USTR, for Monitoring and 5 Enforcement and Chair of the Section 301 6 Committee. 7 Mr. Burch, you may call the first 8 witness. 9 MR. BURCH: Our first witness for 10 Panel 9 will be Brandon Peckman who is 11 accompanied by Marc Peckman of Real Trading.