Goods from China worth approximately $250 billion and subject to Section 301 Lists # 1, 2 and 3 had been scheduled for a duty increase from 25% to 30% effective October 1, 2019, however, that increase was never finalized, nor put into effect by the U.S. Trade Representative. Last week, the duty increase for this same group of goods was expected to take effect on October 15th.
A Chinese delegation met in Washington with the U.S. negotiators on October 10th and 11th. Last Friday, they announced an agreement on Phase 1 of the trade deal. Future trade negotiations between both countries will be done in phases and with a partial deal at a time in order to simplify negotiations. Although this first partial deal is subject to President Trump’s approval, it is likely that the duty increase for Lists # 1, 2, and 3 will not take place, and for now it should remain at 25%. The Trump administration has not addressed the 15% tariff implementation for List # 4B which is scheduled to go into effect on December 15, 2019.