USTR continues the China Section 301 tariff actions in the second four-year review

What the October 7, 2026 notice decides

Under Section 307(c)(1)(B) of the Trade Act of 1974, a Section 301 action ends on its four-year anniversary unless a representative of a benefiting domestic industry asks for it to continue in the 60 days before. USTR's May 6, 2026 notice (91 FR 24636) opened those windows for the two China technology-transfer actions: May 7 to July 5, 2026 for the July 6, 2018 action and June 24 to August 22, 2026 for the August 23, 2018 action. The October 7 notice reports that requests came in for both, so neither action terminated. Its DATES section says the July 6, 2018 action, as modified, "did not terminate on July 6, 2026, and will remain in effect, subject to possible further modifications," and that the August 23, 2018 action did not terminate on August 23, 2026. As in the first review, the statement is retroactive to the anniversaries and covers both actions in one notice.

What it does not change

The notice changes no rate, product list or exclusion. As read from the live USITC export for 2026 HTS Revision 21 on October 12, 2026, Chapter 99 headings 9903.88.01 (List 1), 9903.88.02 (List 2) and 9903.88.03 (List 3) still add 25% to the duty provided in the applicable subheading, and 9903.88.15 (List 4A) still adds 7.5%. The two exclusion headings that still reach current entries, 9903.88.69 and 9903.88.70, still stop applying to entries made after 11:59 p.m. eastern daylight time on November 9, 2026; a separate USTR notice the same day (91 FR 64211) renumbered one product in the 9903.88.69 exclusion list without changing that date.

What comes next in the four-year review

Because the actions continue, Section 307(c)(3) now requires USTR to review them. The notice says USTR will publish a separate notice or notices describing the review process, which will invite comments on how effective the actions have been in achieving the objectives of the investigation, other actions that could be taken, and the effects of the actions on the U.S. economy, including consumers. As of October 12, 2026 that notice had not been published in the Federal Register. Any change to a Section 301 rate or list would come through a later notice, so keep reporting the Chapter 99 heading that controls your code and entry date until one is published.

Continuation requests USTR reported in the October 7, 2026 notice

Counts as stated in section B of the Continuation of Actions notice (91 FR 64212). Each action continues "as modified", which keeps the List 3 and List 4A modifications in place with it.

For scale, the first review's Continuation of Actions notice (87 FR 55073, September 8, 2022) reported 244 producer and 44 trade-association requests for the July 6, 2018 action, and 114 and 32 for the August 23, 2018 action.