The US Trade Representative initiated the second four-year review of Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports on 6 May 2026, covering measures worth approximately USD 50 billion imposed in July and August 2018. Domestic industry representatives have 60-day windows to request continuation of the 25% additional duties targeting technology transfer, intellectual property, and innovation practices.
The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has announced the initiation of the second four-year review of the tariff measures imposed under the Section 301 investigation into China’s acts, policies, and practices concerning technology transfer, intellectual property, and innovation, as published in the Federal Register on 6 May 2026.
The two actions were effective, respectively, on 6 July 2018 and 23 August 2018 and subsequently were modified by imposing additional duties on supplemental lists of products, by the temporary removal of duties on certain products through product exclusions, and through the first, statutory four-year review.
The first step in the four-year review process is notifying representatives of domestic industries which benefit from the actions of the possible termination of the actions and of the opportunity for these representatives to request continuation of the actions.
Requests for continuation must be received in the 60-day window prior to the second four-year anniversary of the respective action: (1) between 7 May 2026 and 5 July 2026, for the 6 July 2018 action; and (2) between 24 June 2026 and 22 August 2026, for the 23 August 2018 action.
The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) is notifying interested parties of these two time windows for representatives of domestic industries which benefit from the trade actions to request continuation of the corresponding trade actions through the USTR website portal. If the trade actions continue as a result of one or more requests from representatives of domestic industries which benefit from the actions, USTR will proceed with the next phase of the review of the trade actions. The second phase of the review would be announced in one or more subsequent notices and would provide opportunities for public comments from all interested parties.
Dates
For the 6 July 2018, trade action, the web portal at https://comments.ustr.gov/s/ will open for requests to continue the action on 7 May 2026, and close at 11:59 p.m. on 5 July 2026.
For the 23 August 2018, trade action, the web portal at https://comments.ustr.gov/s/ will open for requests to continue the action on 24 June 2026, and close at 11:59 p.m. on 22 August 2026.
Background
In August 2017, the US Trade Representative launched an investigation into Chinese government practices concerning technology transfer, intellectual property, and innovation. Following this investigation, a determination was announced on 6 April 2018 that China’s policies were unreasonable or discriminatory and burdened U.S. commerce. The announcement proposed imposing an additional 25% ad valorem duty on Chinese products across 1,333 tariff subheadings, affecting approximately USD 50 billion in annual trade value.
Actions taken under Section 301 of the Trade Act
The US Trade Representative imposed Section 301 additional duties of 25% ad valorem on Chinese imports in two phases: List 1 covered 818 tariff subheadings worth approximately USD 34 billion annually, effective 6 July 2018, and List 2 covered 279 tariff subheadings worth approximately USD 16 billion annually, effective 23 August 2018.
