The United States has re-exempted 352 tariffs on Chinese imports, but more than 200 items are still on hold

It is learned that on March 23, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) issued a statement saying that it would restore tariff exemptions for more than 350 Chinese imported goods. The exemption applies to goods imported from China between October 12, 2021 and December 31, 2022.

The exempted goods include consumer goods such as home appliances and bicycles, manufacturing parts such as electric motors, and some medical devices such as X-ray hardware. However, these exemptions only account for a small portion of the 549 punitive tariffs imposed by former US President Donald Trump on Chinese imports, with nearly 200 more products still facing import tariffs in the United States.

Last October, the USTR announced a public comment period on the exemption of tariffs on Chinese imports. The issues evaluated at the time included "whether the affected goods can be purchased from countries other than China", "whether product procurement is affected by the global supply chain shift", and "whether there is the ability to manufacture these products domestically".

From the final decision of "restoring the exemption", it can be seen that the importance of China's supply chain to the current situation in the United States is self-evident. Although the USTR stated in the exemption statement announced on Wednesday that this decision was made after careful consideration of public opinions and consultation with other US agencies, the United States must have made this choice out of its own interests.

In addition, the Biden administration only exempted more than 350 products from tariffs out of 549, which was accused by many people of being too "petty". Although the Biden administration described the exemption as a way to promote the resolution of the Sino-US trade dispute, it is clear that the United States is the party that "actively seeks peace". On the surface, it is an exemption, but in fact it is a way to save face.

Last month, a bipartisan group of 41 senators wrote to USTR calling for the exemption of import tariffs on all 549 Chinese products and accused some exemptions of unfair treatment for some companies.

The senators also accused the administration of making the exemptions too short-lived, saying importers outside the exemptions will need to pay tariffs for about 10 months after the exemptions expire in 2020.

While the exemptions show that the administration’s efforts are easing the economic pain for U.S. importers and diffusing some of the strain in U.S.-China relations, experts say more is needed to undo some of the damage done by the trade war with China during Trump’s administration.

Editor ✎ Xiao Zhu/

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