On September 13, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative
released a Federal Register notice detailing final modifications to Section 301 tariffs on
Chinese imports following its statutorily mandated four-year
review.
Key points:
- New tariffs will take effect on September 27 for increases scheduled in 2024. Increases for 2025 and 2026 will apply from January 1 of each respective year.
- Tariff increases target strategic sectors, including electric vehicles, batteries, semiconductors, solar cells and medical products.
- Changes from the May 2024 proposal include:
- Increased tariffs on facemasks, medical gloves and syringes/needles
- Exclusion for enteral syringes through January 1, 2026
- Exclusion process for ship-to-shore cranes ordered before May 14
- An exclusion process for certain machinery used in domestic manufacturing will be launched soon.
- Fourteen temporary exclusions for solar manufacturing equipment were approved, effective retroactively to January 1 through May 31, 2025.
The final list of affected products and tariff rates can be found in Annex A of the Federal Register notice. Importers should review the final product list carefully to determine impacts on their supply chains and consider strategies to mitigate increased costs.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
