178 China tariff exclusions expire Nov. 10, and USTR hasn't signaled another extension
With four weeks to go and no Federal Register notice seeking comment, procurement teams sourcing covered Chinese-origin goods should plan for the 25% Section 301 duty to return on entries filed Nov. 10.
Article summary
- Why it matters: If you buy any of the 178 Chinese-origin products still excluded from Section 301 tariffs, your landed cost could jump by 7.5 to 25 points on shipments entered from Nov. 10, with no grace period for goods already on the water. The exclusions are narrow, so the bigger risk is often confusion: importers claiming coverage they don’t have, or missing coverage they do.
- What to do first: Confirm exposure now. Ask your customs broker or trade team to match your purchases against the exclusion annex at the 10-digit level, including every technical parameter in the description.
- Re-run landed cost without the exclusion for every affected SKU so pricing, budgets and should-cost models reflect the worst case.
- 178
- product exclusions still in force
- Nov. 10
- first day the duty returns
- ~25%
- typical Section 301 rate on Lists 1–3
- 0
- days of grace for goods in transit
On this page
The details
The deadline. The U.S. Trade Representative last extended the remaining exclusions on Nov. 26, 2025, with the notice published in the Federal Register on Dec. 1. That pushed expiration from Nov. 29, 2025 to 11:59 p.m. ET on Nov. 9, 2026. The extension followed the U.S.–China trade arrangement announced on Nov. 1, 2025.
Entries filed on or after Nov. 10 pay the underlying Section 301 duty: typically 25% for goods on Lists 1, 2 and 3, and 7.5% for List 4A, on top of normal duties. “No grace period,” Coppersmith Brockelman wrote in a September analysis.
The silence. USTR usually opens a public comment window 60 to 90 days before deciding on an extension; the last cycle had a comment notice in September 2025. As of mid-October 2026, we have found no comparable notice, which trade counsel read as a warning sign. USTR has also described the exclusions as a temporary bridge to help importers move sourcing away from China, not a permanent feature. An extension is still possible, but the window for a normal process is nearly closed.
Update, Oct. 15: the tariffs stay, the exclusions still have no extension. USTR announced in early October that the two 2018 Section 301 actions on China will remain in effect, after domestic industries asked it to continue them (Federal Register document 2026-20510). The tariffs cover about $370 billion of imports across Lists 1 through 4A at 7.5% to 25%, according to ST&R. USTR will run a second statutory four-year review and publish a separate notice inviting comments on whether the tariffs work and how they affect the U.S. economy. A companion notice (2026-20511) made a conforming amendment to one product exclusion to reflect HTSUS statistical changes from July 1, 2026, keeping its coverage unchanged. Neither notice extends the 178 exclusions, which ST&R says remain valid through Nov. 9.
What is still covered
The 178 exclusions fall under two codes, according to Great Lakes Customs Law:
| Code | Exclusions | What they cover |
|---|---|---|
| HTSUS 9903.88.69 | 164 product-specific | Narrow industrial machinery and components (for example certain compressors, DC blowers and electric motors with set power or size limits), a subset of medical products carried over from COVID-era grants, specialty chemicals, some foods such as certain frozen seafood, and vehicle climate-control parts |
| HTSUS 9903.88.70 | 14 solar equipment | Capital equipment used to make solar cells and modules, such as wafer slicing, deposition and testing equipment, but not finished solar cells |
What is not covered: EVs and EV batteries, consumer electronics and most List 4A finished goods, semiconductors and chipmaking equipment beyond solar, steel and aluminum, and apparel and footwear. Electronics teams should still check carefully: bare printed circuit boards under HTSUS 8534.00.00 are on the list, and Altium estimated their duty could climb from 10% to a combined 35% if the exclusions lapse.
Limits on what an exclusion does:
- It removes only the Section 301 layer. MFN duties, Section 232 tariffs and any antidumping or countervailing duties still apply.
- It applies to the exact product description in the annex, at the 10-digit HTS level, including technical limits such as dimensions, power, materials and end use. A partial match is not covered.
- The exclusion code replaces the underlying List code on the entry line. Reporting both can trigger a rejection or a later duty bill.
How to check whether a product is covered
Great Lakes Customs Law sets out a five-step check:
- Find the 10-digit HTSUS number for the product. A mismatch at that level defeats the claim.
- Pull the exclusion text from U.S. notes 20(vvv)(i)–(iv) and 20(www) in the Federal Register notices.
- Compare every technical parameter, including dimensions, weight, power, materials, packaging and end use. Matching most of them is not enough.
- Document the match in writing, citing the note and notice and attaching product specifications.
- Ask CBP for a binding ruling when the match is close.
The firm’s example shows how narrow the descriptions are: an exclusion for rotary compressors rated above 746 watts and up to 2,238 watts, with 2.3 to 5.5 kilowatts of cooling capacity, would not cover a 750-watt unit with 6.0 kilowatts of cooling capacity. The solar equipment exclusions were added in September 2024 and applied retroactively to entries from Jan. 1, 2024, so importers of that equipment may also have refunds to check.
What procurement teams should do
- Confirm exposure now. Ask your customs broker or trade team to match your purchases against the exclusion annex at the 10-digit level, including every technical parameter in the description.
- Re-run landed cost without the exclusion for every affected SKU so pricing, budgets and should-cost models reflect the worst case.
- Check contract terms. Look for tariff pass-through, price adjustment or Incoterms language that decides who absorbs the increase.
- Weigh pull-forward buys carefully. Goods must be entered by Nov. 9, not shipped. Transit times from China already make late-October bookings tight, and extra inventory carries its own cost.
- Look back as well as forward. If you paid Section 301 duty on goods that qualified, unliquidated entries can be corrected and recently liquidated entries may be protested within 180 days.
- Watch the Federal Register. A USTR notice is the only reliable signal of an extension. If none appears by early November, plan for the duty.
Quick landed-cost check
For a product with a $100,000 customs value and a 3% MFN duty, the duty bill rises from $3,000 to $28,000 if a List 1–3 exclusion lapses, and to $10,500 for a List 4A product. That is our illustrative calculation; your rates depend on classification and any other duties that apply.
What to watch next
- The four-year review notice. USTR’s notice opening the second four-year review will set the comment window; procurement teams with China-origin exposure can file data on cost and sourcing effects.
- A Federal Register notice. Any extension would most likely appear as a USTR notice before Nov. 10. Its absence by early November is a strong signal the duty returns.
- The U.S.–China trade truce. The broader arrangement expires Jan. 10, 2027, which could reshape China duties beyond the exclusions.
- Entry timing. Watch in-transit shipments that could clear before or after Nov. 10 and coordinate with your broker on filing dates.
The bigger picture
The exclusions are one of the few remaining pressure valves in the China tariff structure. Since the Supreme Court struck down the IEEPA tariffs in February, the administration has leaned on statutes with firmer footing, including Section 232 on metals and pharmaceuticals and a new Section 301 forced-labor action covering 60 economies. Letting the China exclusions expire would fit that pattern of narrowing exceptions rather than adding new ones.
For procurement teams, the lesson of 2026 is that tariff dates are now as important as contract renewal dates. Track them the same way: see our Tariff & Trade Deadline Tracker. Companies that recovered IEEPA duties are already deciding how to use them; see how Levi’s and others are reinvesting tariff refunds.
Questions procurement teams are asking
When do the Section 301 China exclusions expire?
The remaining 178 exclusions run through 11:59 p.m. ET on Nov. 9, 2026. Entries filed on or after Nov. 10 pay the Section 301 duty unless USTR extends them.
Are the Section 301 China tariffs ending?
No. USTR said in October 2026 that the 2018 actions remain in effect after it received requests to continue them, and that a second statutory four-year review will follow with a public comment process.
What duty applies after the exclusions expire?
Typically 25% for goods on Section 301 Lists 1, 2 and 3, on top of MFN and any other duties.
Which products are still covered by Section 301 China exclusions?
164 product-specific exclusions under HTSUS 9903.88.69, mostly narrow industrial machinery parts, medical products, specialty chemicals and some foods, plus 14 solar manufacturing equipment exclusions under 9903.88.70.
Can I recover Section 301 duty paid on goods that qualified for an exclusion?
For unliquidated entries, a post-summary correction can change the Chapter 99 code. For entries liquidated in the past 180 days, a protest is the usual route. Finally liquidated entries are very hard to recover.
Does an exclusion remove all tariffs?
No. It removes only the Section 301 layer. MFN duties, Section 232 tariffs and antidumping or countervailing duties still apply.
How do I check whether my product is covered by a Section 301 China exclusion?
Match the product at the 10-digit HTSUS level, compare every technical parameter in the exclusion text in U.S. notes 20(vvv) and 20(www), document the match, and request a CBP binding ruling if the match is close. Partial matches are not covered.
How we reported this
This story draws on 6 sources, listed below, and reflects figures as reported on October 12, 2026. The sections on why it matters and what procurement teams should do are Procurement Signal analysis. It is not legal or financial advice. See our editorial standards.
Sources
- USTR — USTR Extends Exclusions from China Section 301 Tariffs (Nov. 26, 2025)
- Coppersmith Brockelman — What Happens to Your Section 301 Exclusions on November 10?
- Great Lakes Customs Law — Section 301 China Exclusions in 2026
- Altium — The 2026 Tariff Reset
- USTR via KPMG — USTR continues China Section 301 actions, makes conforming amendment to product exclusion
- ST&R — Section 301 tariffs on imports from China officially continued (Oct. 8, 2026)
