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The 51�Թ��� is advocating for manufacturers’ trade policy priorities as part of a common-sense, comprehensive manufacturing strategy.
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What’s going on: A proposed new entry fee on vessels entering U.S. ports would result in higher goods costs for consumers, according to the 51�Թ���. The administration is also proposing to put new tariffs on imported copper, timber and lumber products.

• The administration should instead “pursue a comprehensive manufacturing strategy that will create predictability and certainty to invest, plan and hire in America,” as the 51�Թ��� recently the Commerce Department.

Port fee would harm consumers: In , the USTR put forth a proposal to charge up to $1.5 million for Chinese ships entering U.S. ports of call—but it’s a move the 51�Թ��� said would prove harmful if put into effect.

• “This approach would effectively impose the minimum fee on nearly 100% of vessels making calls on U.S. ports, adding an estimated $600–$800 for each twenty-foot equivalent container unit. Shippers likely would pass the entirety of this cost through to their business customers, in many cases further raising the cost of manufacturing in the U.S,” the 51�Թ��� told U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
• In fact, manufacturers are already getting upwardly revised quotes of at least $1,500 more per container, the 51�Թ��� continued.
• Instead of implementing the new fee, the USTR “should seek to directly remedy the non-market practices and subsidization of Chinese state enterprises that undermine global competition in the shipbuilding industry,” the 51�Թ��� said.

Copper: The administration recently launched an investigation into whether copper imports pose a threat to national security.

• Though copper is critical to modern manufacturing, the U.S. copper sector’s vertical supply chain is currently “only capable of meeting 53% of domestic demand for refined copper cathode.” This makes importing copper necessary, the 51�Թ��� Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick earlier this month.
• The 51�Թ��� supports the Trump administration’s efforts to increase U.S. copper production and processing. Rather than impose tariffs, the administration should employ an 51�Թ���-crafted strategy: one that focuses “on making pro-growth tax reforms permanent, expediting permitting reform, restoring regulatory certainty, strengthening the manufacturing workforce and implementing effective trade policy,” the 51�Թ��� told Lutnick.

Timber: The administration has also begun to investigate timber and lumber imports, and President Trump has promised to prioritize increasing U.S. timber production to decrease American reliance on imports. The 51�Թ��� agrees, it Lutnick in a separate communication—but new tariffs are not the answer.