US Extends Some Tariff Exemptions to China

The Trump administration’s threat of escalation against China came this time in disguise with seemingly positive news. The office of the US Trade Representative announced the extension of the deadlines for some exemptions from customs duties on a large group of Chinese goods.

But this extension is until the end of 2020, that is, for only four months instead of a year, to keep pressure on China regarding the implementation of the Phase 1 trade agreement.

These exceptions will make it even more cloudy for importers of a variety of products from bluetooth devices to pianos.

For his part, the US Trade Representative said that the extension will be applied to products that are exempt from the “Item 301” tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump a year ago on a group of Chinese consumer goods. Tariffs targeting goods worth $ 125 billion were set at 15%, and then it was decided to reduce them in the framework of the Phase 1 agreement signed in January to 7.5%.

Products include smartwatches, certain types of medical masks, and a number of wearable Bluetooth data transmitters such as those imported from China by Apple, Fitbit, Sonos and other tech companies.