International Trade Comparative Guide for the jurisdiction of United States, check out our comparative guides section to compare across multiple countries
Will the Trump Administration Extend the Deadline?
Given the Administration’s silence on how it plans to address the expiration of the Section 301 exclusions, we believe that the exclusions will expire at the end of December 2020.
Will an Incoming Biden Administration Repeal the Section 301 Duties?
In the near term, we think it is unlikely that the Biden Administration will make any significant changes to the current Section 301 regime. As noted in our previous post here, President-Elect Biden has not affirmatively committed to discontinuing the use of Section 301 tariffs on goods imported from China. Over time, however, the Biden Administration might seek to modify these tariffs as well as explore broader reforms to deal with U.S.-China trade more generally.
Wednesday, December 23, 2020
While many of us anxiously await putting 2020 behind us, the start of the new year may have significant import duty implications for many U.S. companies.
On December 31, two significant U.S. import duty relief programs are set to expire: the Section 301 exclusions and the Generalized Systems of Preference (“GSP”). That will cause U.S. customs duties to rise on certain products. Importers should be prepared for these changes.
Section 301 Tariffs on Chinese Goods
TL;DR: Section 301 exclusions are probably going away December 31. Plan accordingly.
Background
Since July 2018, the U.S. government has imposed billions of dollars in tariffs on Chinese-origin goods pursuant to Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. The Section 301 tariffs were levied under four separate actions known as Lists 1, 2, 3 and 4.