On December 29, 2023, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) issued a Federal Register notice further extending certain China-related Section 301 product exclusions through May 31, 2024. This action extends 352 exclusions previously reinstated in December 2022 through September 30, 2023, and 77 COVID-related exclusions previously extended in May 2023 through September 30, 2023. For additional information, see Updates of December 16, 2022, May 15, 2023 and September 7, 2023. The USTR stated that the “extension will enable the orderly review of the exclusions consistent with statutory factors and objectives to identify in which cases additional time would enable shifts in sourcing to the United States or third countries. The extension will also facilitate the alignment of further decisions on these exclusions with the ongoing four-year review.” These extended product exclusions remain available for any product that meets the description in the product exclusion.
The USTR also announced the opening of a docket for public comments on whether to further extend particular product exclusions. This docket will open on January 22, 2024 on the web portal at http://comments.USTR.gov. The focus of the USTR’s evaluation of any comments on exclusions will be on the availability of products covered by the exclusion from sources outside of China, efforts undertaken to source products covered by the exclusion from the United States or third countries, why additional time is needed, and on what timeline, if any, the sourcing of products covered by an exclusion is likely to shift outside of China. Instructions on how to submit a comment on a particular exclusion are detailed in the Federal Register notice. The comment period will close on February 21, 2024.