The 178 China Section 301 exclusions on products stop applying to goods entered after 11:59 p.m. Eastern on November 9, 2026, under the Federal Register notice that last extended them. Unless USTR publishes another extension, those lines go back to the full Section 301 rate. Thomson Reuters Tax & Accounting wrote on October 12 that none had been announced.
Two dates in one notice
The background section of the notice and USTR’s press release say the exclusions run until November 10, and Thomson Reuters repeats that date. The annexes define the window as ending “before 11:59 p.m. eastern daylight time on November 9, 2026”, a label that does not fit the date, since daylight time ends on November 1. A broker should work to the annexes. Importivity says an entry filed on or after November 10 without a valid exclusion heading pays the full rate even if the goods shipped in October.
A truce date is not a Federal Register notice
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said last month that the US-China truce would run to January 10, 2027. Thomson Reuters reports that the extension has not been put into an executive order or a Federal Register notice, and that three U.S. measures lapse on November 9 and 10, two months before the truce date.
The 178 Section 301 exclusions are one of the three.
The listing of USTR documents in the Federal Register through October 8 contains no notice extending them. The one exclusion document in October amends the reporting number of a single exclusion and changes no dates.
The last extension reached the Federal Register after the deadline. USTR announced it three days before the old expiry of November 29, but the Federal Register notice appeared on December 1 and covered goods entered from November 30. Importivity says a further extension “can arrive after the cliff and should not be assumed either way”.
Bond buys time only until withdrawal
FreightFigures puts the returning Section 301 duty at 25% on Lists 1 to 3 and 7.5% on List 4A, on top of the ordinary duty. Of the 178 exclusions, it says, many are industrial inputs and capital equipment such as pumps, motors, compressors and specialty chemicals.
Stock in a bonded warehouse gets no extra time. The annexes count a withdrawal for consumption the same way as an entry, so stock withdrawn after November 9 loses the exclusion. FreightFigures, which is published by the operator of a bonded warehouse in Charleston, says covered stock should come out before the deadline.
If the extension comes late again, a covered container that lands in mid-November has three routes, FreightFigures says. Enter it and pay the lapsed rate. Hold it at the terminal and pay demurrage while waiting for a notice. Or move it into a bonded warehouse under a Type 21 entry, pay no duty at entry, and withdraw at the rate in force that day, claiming 9903.88.69 if an extension has arrived. Without one, goods withdrawn for the U.S. market pay the lapsed rate on top of the storage bill, and re-export from bond stays open.
The broker’s list
FreightFigures tells importers to ask the broker to pull every entry line filed under 9903.88.69 since November 30, 2025, sorted by entered value. Entered value times 25% (7.5% on List 4A lines) gives the annual cost of the snap-back on those lines, it says, and for most importers with real exposure the value sits with two or three suppliers. Importivity extends the pull to heading 9903.88.70, which covers the 14 solar manufacturing exclusions listed in the annexes. FreightFigures adds that CBP verification letters on 9903.88.69 claims almost always ask for the spec sheet.
A separate cut-off falls on the same day. The pause on Section 301 port fees for Chinese-built or Chinese-operated ships ends on November 9 as well. In its notice, USTR said it would consider before the deadline whether to continue the pause. Groups representing importers, ports, shipping lines, customs brokers and forwarders have written to USTR asking for an extension, according to CargoLinked.