About 60% of Section 301 Exclusions Will Expire June 14

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative decided to extend 164 Section 301 tariff exclusions through May 31, and the other 265 exclusions will expire June 14.

The list of extended exclusions is diverse, covering apparel, industrial components, industrial machinery, medical equipment, polymer films, certain mopeds, binoculars, sewing machines, robots, safety glass and more.

Both the exclusions initially granted during the Trump administration and restored during the Biden administration, and the exclusions related to the pandemic, were extended.

The notice, which was written in the form of a Federal Register notice, but not posted on that site before the long holiday weekend, said that no one asked for 102 of the 429 exclusions to continue. The others that were rejected will be terminated for a variety of reasons, such as if the request didn't describe plans or efforts to move sourcing out of China, or if the buyer said it needed to stay in China because it was the lowest cost source. The agency said it also rejected extension requests if there was a domestic producer saying it could supply the good, or if other importers objected, saying they used to be covered by that exclusion, and now source from another country. The agency said continuing those exclusions would put those companies at a disadvantage.

The notice said: "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 those it did extend, the agency said exempting the imports from the Section 301 tariffs will support efforts to shift sourcing, or, in some cases, the agency judged there were credible efforts to source elsewhere but there was not adequate availability.

The agency considered public comments submitted both on the exclusions and in connection with its four-year review, as well as advisory committees' advice, advice of the interagency Section 301 Committee and confidential import data provided by CBP.

For specific questions on customs classification or implementation of the product exclusions, contact traderemedy@cbp.dhs.gov.