Section 301 exclusions expiring November 9, 2026

What an exclusion is

A Section 301 exclusion removes the China Section 301 duty from a specific, described product, even though its tariff subheading is on one of the lists. Most of the thousands of exclusions granted after 2018 have expired. The ones still in force were carried forward by a series of USTR notices, the latest being 90 FR 55232 (December 1, 2025), which extended them "through 11:59 p.m. eastern daylight time on November 9, 2026".

The 178 still in force

Both headings in the current schedule (USITC HTS 2026 Revision 21) read as effective "through November 9, 2026". An exclusion is defined by its written description, not by the whole subheading: a product in the same ten-digit line that does not match the description is not excluded.

November 9 or November 10?

The White House fact sheet on the November 2025 truce said the exclusions would be extended "until November 10, 2026", and several trade publications repeat that date. The binding notice and the tariff schedule both say 11:59 p.m. eastern daylight time on November 9, 2026. They describe the same moment from either side of midnight, but the legal text is the one CBP applies: goods entered from 12:00 a.m. on November 10 lose the exclusion unless it is extended.

Will they be extended?

We cannot say. The December 2025 notice says USTR "may continue to consider further extensions and/or additional modifications as appropriate". In September 2026 the US and China announced that their truce arrangement would run to January 10, 2027 (see the November deadline), and the exclusion extension was part of the original arrangement. But USTR's press releases for September and October 2026 contain no notice on the exclusions, and the extensions have so far always come as a Federal Register notice. Until one is published, the November 9 date is the operative one.

What is not covered

• Batteries and battery materials. None of the 178 covers lithium-ion batteries (8507.60), battery parts (8507.90), permanent magnets (8505) or natural graphite (2504). Older exclusions for lithium-ion batteries still appear in other parts of note 20, but they belong to earlier rounds that are no longer in force.
• The 12.5% forced-labor duty. The 2026 forced-labor action is a separate Section 301 action with its own headings, and USTR declined to create any exclusion process for it. An exclusion under heading 9903.88.69 relates to the China technology-transfer duties; we found nothing that extends it to the forced-labor duty. See the Section 301 forced-labor tariff.
• New requests. No open process for requesting a new Section 301 exclusion was found as of October 14, 2026.

What to do before November 9

1. Find out whether you use one. Ask your customs broker which of your entries declare heading 9903.88.69 or 9903.88.70. If none do, the expiry does not change your duty.
2. Price the duty back in. For each product that relies on an exclusion, work out the cost if the full Section 301 rate applies from November 10 (25% for most products on Lists 1 to 3, 7.5% on List 4A).
3. Look at entry timing. The cut-off is the date of entry, so goods arriving in the first week of November are the ones exposed if no extension appears.
4. Watch USTR, not the news. An extension, if it comes, will be a Federal Register notice. A statement that the truce has been extended does not by itself change what CBP collects.

This date is on the trade-rule calendar.

Sources: 90 FR 55232 (December 1, 2025); USITC HTS 2026 Revision 21, headings 9903.88.69 and 9903.88.70 and U.S. note 20; White House fact sheet of November 1, 2025; USTR notice of action of July 23, 2026. Last checked October 14, 2026. General information, not customs advice.