Two Minutes in Trade – GAO Critiques USTR China 301 Tariff Exclusion Process

GAO says that USTR did not have sufficient documentation of its internal processes for approving or rejecting exclusion requests. USTR accepts the criticism but asserts that the lack of documentation had no effect on the substantive review of requests. The question now – what effect will the GAO report have on USTR’s deliberations as to whether or not to approve previously-granted exclusions?