On Wednesday, March 25, 2020, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) is expected to begin accepting requests from U.S. businesses for the removal of China tariffs on "medical care products" needed to address the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.
Significantly, any request successfully granted by USTR would remove the tariffs, rather than temporarily suspend tariffs, like the other product exclusion processes that USTR has instituted so far. Relevant "medical-care products" may be on any of the four lists of products covered by China tariffs (Lists 1–4) imposed over the past few years.
USTR will be accepting comments until June 25, 2020, unless the comment window is further extended. For assistance in submitting requests or other comments in response to USTR's expected announcement, please reach out to Venable's International Trade Group.