The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has announced that 164 Section 301 tariff exclusions will be extended until May 31, while the remaining 265 exclusions will expire on June 14.
The extended exclusions cover a wide range of products, including apparel, industrial components, industrial machinery, medical equipment, polymer films, certain mopeds, binoculars, sewing machines, robots, safety glass, and more.
These exclusions, initially granted during the Trump administration and later restored during the Biden administration, include those related to the pandemic.
In a Federal Register notice, the USTR noted that no requests were made to continue 102 of the 429 exclusions. Various reasons were cited for the termination of other exclusions, such as a lack of plans to shift sourcing from China, the necessity to stay in China due to lower costs, or the presence of a domestic producer capable of supplying the goods. Additionally, objections from other importers who had shifted their sourcing to other countries played a role in the decision.
The notice stated: “Many comments asserted that a product was unavailable outside of China due to costs associated with finding alternative sources or based on the limited availability of certain product specifications or comparable quality outside of China. Without additional explanation of efforts undertaken or how further extending the exclusion would aid efforts to shift sourcing, the U.S. Trade Representative declined to extend these exclusions.”
For the exclusions that were extended, the USTR indicated that exempting these imports from Section 301 tariffs would support efforts to shift sourcing. In some cases, there were credible efforts to source elsewhere, but adequate availability was lacking.
The USTR considered public comments submitted both on the exclusions and during its four-year review, as well as advice from advisory committees, the interagency Section 301 Committee, and confidential import data provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
For specific questions on customs classification or implementation of the product exclusions, contact [email protected].
