Products Win US Tariff Exemption

Good news on the trade front! A number of products originating from Mainland China have been granted exemption by the United States Trade Representative (USTR) from tariffs imposed in July 2018. On 21 Dec 2018, the USTR announced the first group of products excluded from List 1. This list of levy-bearing items was released in the first of a series of tariff-imposition moves the US made in the second half of 2018.A range of product types from the mainland are temporarily exempted from the additional 25% duty imposed under Section 301, effective from 6 July 2018 to 27 Dec 2019. Please check here for the formal announcement by the USTR. The exclusions, covering 984 separate requests, are retroactive to 6 July 2018. The exclusions are available for any product that meets the description set out in the exclusion, regardless of whether the importer filed an exclusion request. The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will issue introductions on entry guidance and implementation in due course.The Hong Kong Trade Development Council has a webpage providing information on measures Hong Kong traders can use to cope with the Sino-US trade dispute, which is updated whenever the measures are revised – US Trade page.Items excluded range from certain hydraulic power engines and ball bearings to radio transceivers.