Revised US tariff list removes 142 chemical, plastic products – ACC

HOUSTON (ICIS)–The US removed 142 chemical and plastic products from the latest round of tariffs that it will impose on Chinese imports next week, the American Chemistry Council (ACC) said on Tuesday.

Critically, the revised list no longer includes five groups of rare-earth elements. China is the main source of these materials, and they are are critical raw-materials that are used to make catalysts for fluid-catalytic-cracking (FCC) units.

These units are used in refineries to produce gasoline and refinery-grade propylene (RGP).

The US had announced the initial list of tariffs earlier in the year, which would be imposed on $200bn worth of imports from China.

The country since revised the list, which includes fewer chemical and plastic products.

The tariffs will go into effect on 24 September, and they will start at 10%. On 1 January, the tariffs will rise to 25%.

The pared-down list still covers 1,363 chemical and plastic products, according to the ACC. Their value was $12.9bn in 2017.

A 10% tariff on those imports would amount to $1.3bn. A 25% tariff comes to $3.2bn, the ACC said.

Other products that were removed from the list include paraffin wax, which is under 27122000 in the harmonised tariff schedule (HTS). Vinyl chloride (29032100) was also removed from the initial list, but the US imports relatively minor amounts of the material.

Most of the products removed from the list are organic chemicals. An analysis conducted by ICIS shows that 98 organic chemicals were removed from the earlier tariff list.

Following the US announcement of the tariffs, China announced its own round of tariffs, worth 5% and 10% on $60bn worth of imports.

China will also impose its tariffs on 24 September.

Pictured: Nantong Port, north of Shanghai
Source: Imaginechina/REX/Shutterstock 

Click here to view related stories and content on the US-China trade war topic page.