On the evening of September 11, President Trump announced, via twitter, that the U.S. will delay the scheduled tariff increase on $250 billion worth of Chinese goods. Last month, the office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced plans to increase the existing levy on Section 301 List 1, List 2, and List 3 products from 25 to 30%.

The rate increase was set to go into effect on October 1, 2019. However, according to the President’s tweet, the U.S. will delay the increase until October 15, 2019. The President credits his decision to a personal request from the Vice Premier of China and the beginning of Golden Week, a week-long national holiday in China beginning on October 1^st.

This update also comes just one day after China released its first list of U.S. products to be exempted from tariffs. 16 types of U.S. products were granted exemptions, including anti-cancer drugs and lubricants, as well as animal feed ingredients whey and fish meal. Trade negotiators from the two nations are set to meet again in Washington D.C. in early October.

USTR continues to accept public comment on the proposed tariff increase and all comments must be submitted by September 20, 2019. Additionally, the exclusion process for Section 301 List 3 products is set to end on Monday, September 30. Exclusion requests must be submitted by that date, and submitters will be allotted 14 days to adjust their request.

Trans-Border will continue to monitor the situation. If you have any questions, please reach out to Bill Carey, Import Compliance Manager, at bcarey@tbgfs.com or (800) 493-9444.