On Dec. 26, 2023, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced the further extension of certain product exclusions to the China Section 301 tariffs that were scheduled to expire Dec. 31, 2023. USTR’s announcement extends 352 previously reinstated exclusions and 77 COVID-19-related exclusions through May 31, 2024, to allow USTR more time to review the exclusions and “facilitate the alignment of further decisions on these exclusions with the ongoing four-year review.” The list of exclusions can be found in the Federal Register notice. This extension comes after USTR previously extended the same set of exclusions on Sept. 6, 2023.

Additionally, USTR announced a public comment period on whether to further extend particular exclusions. USTR is specifically requesting interested parties focus their comments on the following topics:

• The availability of products covered by the exclusion from sources outside China;
   
• Efforts parties have undertaken to source products covered by the exclusions from outside China;
   
• If additional time is needed to further source products from outside China, how long that will take, and why the additional time is requested; and
   
• The impact extending the exclusions may have on U.S. interests, including the overall impact of the exclusion on the goal of obtaining the elimination of China’s actions and policies that underlie the Section 301 investigation.

Parties interested in filing comments can do so through an online portal. Interested parties can file submissions during the comment period, which runs from Jan. 22, 2024, until Feb. 21, 2024.