Update: The proposed tariff on Chinese-made bearings and other products officially went into effect July 6, 2018. As a result, all bearings manufactured in China will be impacted and increased by 25 percent.
The bearing industry received some unfortunate news April 10, 2018. According to the government, there will be an additional tariff imposed on all Chinese-made bearings of 25 percent if new terms with China aren’t negotiated.
HOW THE PROPOSED TARIFFS WILL AFFECT AMERICAN BEARING DISTRIBUTORS
- Chinese-made ball bearings would have a 34 percent duty rate applied, up from 9 percent
- Chinese-made spherical roller Bearings, cylindrical roller bearings, and needle roller bearings would have a 30.8 percent duty rate applied, up from 5.8 percent
- Chinese-made tapered roller bearings would have a 118 percent duty rate applied, up from 93 percent
According to The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), these tariffs are being proposed because certain policies and acts by the Government of China are “unreasonable or discriminatory and burden or restrict U.S. commerce.” However, these added tariffs could hurt U.S. businesses, as importers of bearing products like Ritbearing may be forced to raised pricing on Chinese bearings by up to 25 percent in response to the tariffs. These tariffs would be put in place for products under the following HTS codes:
84821050, 84822000, 84823000, 84824000, 84825000, 84828000, 84829100, 84829905, 84829915 84829925, 84829935, 84829945, 84829965, and 84833040.