The Biden administration is restoring tariff exemptions for more than 300 Chinese imports, the US Trade Representative’s office said. Waivers for 352 out of 549 items imported to the United States would be applied retroactively from October 12, 2021 until December 31, 2022.
Earlier, the White House began seeking public comments on which Chinese goods should be exempt from US tariffs.
In June 2018, the Trump administration imposed a tariff of 25% on Chinese imports worth $50 billion in response to China’s “unfair trade practices”.
Following talks between Washington and Beijing in August 2019, the US slapped an additional tariff of 10% on Chinese smartphones, clothing, toys, and other consumer goods worth $300 billion.
The United States first granted tariff waivers in late 2019 for 8 categories of Chinese goods. In September 2020, Washington reinstated exclusions for 87 items imported from China. The Biden administration began a review of existing tariffs in early March 2022.
