CHINA PHASE ONE TRADE DEAL DETAILS

January 15, 2020, the United States and China signed the so-called “Phase One” trade deal. Intended as a first step toward addressing the ongoing U.S.-China trade dispute, the agreement addresses the following areas of U.S.-China trade:

Chapter 1: Intellectual Property

Chapter 2: Technology Transfers

Chapter 3: Trade in Food and Agricultural Products

Chapter 4: Financial Services

Chapter 5: Macroeconomic Policies and Exchange Rate Matters and Transparency

Chapter 6: Expanding Trade

Chapter 7: Bilateral Evaluation and Dispute Resolution

In terms of the reduction of Section 301 List 4A duties from 15% to 7.5% the agreement is silent. However, the U.S. Trade Representative has indicated that a Federal Register notice will be published shortly and that sometime in the next 30 days or so the List 4A duty rate reduction will take effect. It is not clear at the time of this writing whether the reduction will be prospective only (e.g., mid-February 2020 forward) or retroactive (e.g., the duty reduction will be effective going back to the effective date of List 4A). List 4B duties remain suspended.

With regard to Lists 1, 2 and 3 duties, currently at 25% and currently covering more than half of U.S.-China trade, these duties will remain in place pending achievement of a Phase Two trade deal.

On December 31, 2019, the USTR (see 85 FR 549 of 01/06/2020) granted 68 exclusion requests to the Section 301 duties levied on goods from China on List 3 items. See our updated EXCLUSION LIST, which includes all exclusions granted to date, along with modifications to HTS descriptions. The December exclusions apply retroactively from September 24, 2018 through to August 7, 2020. The applicable HTS to apply to claim this round of exclusions is 9903.88.37.  These List 3 exclusions are retroactive to September 24, 2018 and run through August 7, 2020. Please contact your Western Overseas representative if you would like us to file a Protest or Post Summary Correction (PSC) or request extension of liquidation if your exclusion request has not yet been decided.

On October 19, 2019 the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) published a process by which importers and other parties may request an exclusion from additional duties for products classified under the tariff headings covered by the August 20, 2019 announcement for List 4A (84 FR 57145 of October 24, 2019). The notice also sets out specific procedures for submitting requests. The portal will close Jan. 31, 2020 at 11:59 pm ET.

Additional information may be obtained by contacting your Western Overseas representative.