USTR Extends 352 Reinstated Exclusions and 77 COVID-Related Exclusions Through December 31, 2023

On September 6, 2023, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced another extension of more than 400 exclusions from the China Section 301 Tariffs. The USTR has extended these exclusions while it continues to conduct its four-year review of List 1 and List 2 Section 301 tariffs.¹ 

In December 2022, the USTR extended 352 reinstated exclusions through September 30, 2023. Several months later, in May 2023, the USTR decided to also extend 77 COVID-related exclusions through September 30, 2023. With the USTR’s latest announcement, both the reinstated and COVID-related exclusions are now scheduled to expire on December 31, 2023.²

The USTR stated that this extension “will allow for further consideration under the statutory four-year review” of the exclusions. We discussed the USTR statutory four-year review of Lists 1 and 2 Section 301 tariffs in our November 2022 newsletter. As part of its four-year review process, USTR requested public comments, submission of which were due by January 2023. More than 1,500 comments were submitted. USTR is now “reviewing all actions related to the investigation, including decisions on whether and how to accept new exclusion requests.”³ According to a Congressional Research Service Report from September 2023, “[w]hile the USTR approved, on average, 35% of new requests under the first two actions [i.e., Lists 1 and 2], the approval rates under the third and fourth actions [i.e., Lists 3 and 4] were 5% and 7%, respectively.”⁴ In July 2023, the USTR reported to Congress that it expected to complete its four-year review by this fall.⁵

Additional information on the 77 COVID Exclusions and the Reinstatement of Certain Exclusions Previously Extended can be found at USTR’s website.⁶

¹ https://ustr.gov/about-us/policy-offices/press-office/press-releases/2023/september/ustr-extends-reinstated-and-covid-related-exclusions-china-section-301-tariffs; 88 FR 62,423 (Sept. 11, 2023).

² https://ustr.gov/about-us/policy-offices/press-office/press-releases/2023/september/ustr-extends-reinstated-and-covid-related-exclusions-china-section-301-tariffs; 88 FR 62,423 (Sept. 11, 2023).

³ https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF11582.

⁴ https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF11582.

⁵ Id.

⁶ See https://ustr.gov/issue-areas/enforcement/section-301-investigations/section-301-china-technology-transfer/china-section-301-tariff-actions-and-exclusion-process/covid-exclusions; https://ustr.gov/issue-areas/enforcement/section-301-investigations/section-301-china-technology-transfer/china-section-301-tariff-actions-and-exclusion-process/reinstatement-certain-exclusions-previously-extended.