As of November 9, 2026, the 178 product exclusions from the Section 301 China tariffs have expired. Unless USTR publishes an extension, entries after that date pay the full tariff again: 25 percent for Lists 1 through 3 and 7.5 percent for List 4A.
What actually expired
The Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods have run in four lists since 2018. Lists 1 through 3 carry 25 percent. List 4A carries 7.5 percent. Over the years USTR has granted exclusions for specific products, usually because no alternative source existed or the tariff hurt US businesses more than it pressured China. The 178 exclusions in this round were a defined set, claimed under HTSUS subheadings 9903.88.69 and 9903.88.70, and they expired at 11:59 p.m. Eastern on November 9, 2026.
Expiry is not a grace period. An entry filed on November 10 for a product that was excluded on November 9 pays the full List rate. The date that controls is the date of entry, not the date the goods left the factory, not the date the purchase order was signed, and not the date the vessel sailed. Goods already on the water when the exclusion expired are still dutiable at the full rate when they enter.
As of October 28, 2026, USTR had not published an extension. That does not mean one will not come. USTR has extended exclusions retroactively before, and importers who filed at the full rate during a gap have later claimed refunds when an extension was published. But an extension that has not been published is not a basis for filing at zero. File at the rate in force, keep the entries, and watch the Federal Register.
What the bill looks like now
For a List 1 to 3 product, the change is a jump from zero to 25 percent of customs value. On a $200,000 shipment, that is $50,000 of duty that was not in the cost sheet last month. For List 4A, the jump is to 7.5 percent, which on the same shipment is $15,000. These are not rounding errors. They change whether a product is worth importing at all, and they change the price a buyer is willing to pay for goods already in a US warehouse.
The duty is only the first line. A higher duty raises the merchandise processing fee base and the harbor maintenance fee base where they apply, and it raises the bond requirement on the entry. A single-entry bond is typically set at three times the duties, taxes, and fees, so a $50,000 duty bill needs a $150,000 bond. Importers who run on continuous bonds should check whether their bond amount still covers their entries at the higher rates. CBP can demand a larger bond, and a bond insufficiency notice arrives at the worst possible time.
What to do with entries already filed
If you filed entries after November 9 using the expired exclusion, fix them before CBP finds them. A post-summary correction works if the entry has not liquidated. A protest works after liquidation. Either way, the duty is owed, and interest runs from the entry date, so the correction is cheaper now than it is in six months. Voluntary correction is also the record you want if CBP ever asks whether the error was a mistake or a pattern.
Do not confuse this expiry with the separate forced-labor Section 301 action. That action covers 60 economies, carries 10 or 12.5 percent depending on the country, and took effect July 24, 2026. It is a different tariff action with its own product scope and its own exclusions. An importer can be hit by both: the China List rate and the forced-labor rate, on the same entry, for different reasons. Check both before you quote a landed cost.
The sourcing question that follows
Every exclusion expiry restarts the same argument inside a company: move production, pay the tariff, or raise the price. The honest answer depends on the product. For goods where the exclusion was the only thing keeping the margin, the tariff is now a permanent cost unless USTR extends it, and the sourcing decision should be made on that basis, not on hope. For goods where the margin survives 25 percent, the tariff is a price increase to pass through, and the question is how fast competitors pass it through too.
One thing the expiry does not change: the classification and valuation work underneath. An importer who misclassifies a product into a List 4A line when it belongs in List 1 pays 7.5 percent instead of 25 percent, and that error is more expensive now than it was when the exclusion made the rate zero. The exclusions hid classification mistakes. Without them, the mistakes have a price again.
Keep reading
Related guides on this site: how Chapter 99 lines like 9903 actually work on an entry the substantial transformation test for country of origin the six General Rules of Interpretation behind classification fights More from Tariff rules tracked down to the SKU.
Frequently asked questions
Which tariff lines did the exclusions cover?
They were claimed under HTSUS subheadings 9903.88.69 and 9903.88.70, which carried a zero rate while the exclusions were in force. Once the exclusions expire, those subheadings no longer apply and the goods fall back to the List 1 to 4A rates.
Are these the same as the forced-labor tariffs from July?
No. The 178 exclusions that expired November 9 cover a specific set of products under the original Section 301 action. The separate forced-labor action, which covers 60 economies and took effect July 24, 2026, is a different action with its own rates.
Can I still claim an exclusion after November 9?
Only if USTR publishes an extension in the Federal Register before or shortly after the expiry. As of October 28, 2026, no extension had been published. Check the Federal Register and USTR notices, not a vendor email, before assuming an exclusion still applies.
What if I already filed entries using an expired exclusion?
File a post-summary correction if the entry has not liquidated, or a protest if it has. Do not wait for CBP to catch it, because interest runs from the entry date and a pattern of underpayment can draw a penalty.
How much more duty will I owe per shipment?
It depends on the product and the list it sits on. List 1 through 3 goods go back to 25 percent. List 4A goods go back to 7.5 percent. The rate that applies is the one in force on the date of entry, not the date the goods shipped.