Official article description
Except as provided in headings 9903.88.39, 9903.88.42, 9903.88.44, 9903.88.47, 9903.88.49, 9903.88.51, 9903.88.53, 9903.88.55, 9903.88.57, 9903.88.65, 9903.88.66, 9903.88.67, 9903.88.68, or 9903.88.69, articles the product of China, as provided for in U.S. note 20(r) to this subchapter and as provided for in the subheadings enumerated in U.S. note 20(s)
Transcribed verbatim from the live USITC export for 2026 HTS Revision 15 on Aug 8, 2026. The heading text points to U.S. note 20(r) and 20(s); the enumerated scope lives in that note, not in the description above.
How this heading is treated
- Treatment: Additional duty on top of the ordinary subheading rate.Column 1 General reads “The duty provided in the applicable subheading + 7.5%”, Column 1 Special reads “No separate entry in the schedule”, and Column 2 reads “No separate entry in the schedule”.
- Metals reached: Not metal-scoped — coverage is by 8-digit subheading, not by material.
- Origin condition: Products of China.
- Controlling note: U.S. note 20(r) and 20(s), in the legal notes to subchapter III of Chapter 99.
The rate on this line is half of what the action originally set
List 4A took effect on September 1, 2019 at 15 percent and was reduced to 7.5 percent effective February 14, 2020 under the Phase One agreement with China. The heading number is unchanged, so a landed-cost model built from a 2019 source and never revisited overstates the duty by 7.5 points on every covered entry. The live column is the only safe reference: in 2026 HTS Revision 15, read August 8, 2026, it reads “+ 7.5%.” The 15 percent figure still exists in the range, at 9903.88.16 — the List 4B heading — but the live export carries a compiler's note recording that provision as suspended, so List 4B is not a rate anyone reports.
Where List 4A actually bites: low-duty consumer goods
Because 7.5 percent is small next to List 3's 25, List 4A is easy to treat as a rounding error, and it is not — it lands hardest where the ordinary rate is already low. Footwear in 6404.20.40 carries a 10 percent Column 1 rate and reaches 17.5 percent all-in with this overlay: a 75 percent increase in duty owed. Plastic household articles in 3924.90.56 go from 3.4 percent to 10.9 percent, more than tripling. The overlay is proportionally largest exactly where importers are least likely to have modelled a Chapter 99 line at all, which is why CBP's CROSS rulings on these codes state the 9903.88.15 reporting requirement explicitly.
What the 2026 review notice does and does not say about List 4A
A claim circulating in trade commentary is that List 4A terminates with the August 23, 2018 action on August 23, 2026. USTR's May 6, 2026 initiation notice at 91 FR 24636 does not support it. The notice identifies List 4A by its own action document — 84 FR 43304 of August 20, 2019, as modified — and lists it among the modifications to the July 6, 2018 action and the August 23, 2018 action that are currently in effect, without assigning it to either. No action-specific termination date can therefore be read across to this heading from that notice alone. As of the August 8, 2026 read, the 7.5 percent column stands and no continuation or termination determination has published for either underlying action.
Headings that displace this one
The article description opens with an “Except as provided in headings” clause, so 14 headings take precedence over 9903.88.15. Rule them out before applying the treatment above.
9903.88.39— no page here; read it in the official USITC lookup9903.88.42— no page here; read it in the official USITC lookup9903.88.44— no page here; read it in the official USITC lookup9903.88.47— no page here; read it in the official USITC lookup9903.88.49— no page here; read it in the official USITC lookup9903.88.51— no page here; read it in the official USITC lookup9903.88.53— no page here; read it in the official USITC lookup9903.88.55— no page here; read it in the official USITC lookup9903.88.57— no page here; read it in the official USITC lookup9903.88.65— no page here; read it in the official USITC lookup9903.88.66— no page here; read it in the official USITC lookup9903.88.67— no page here; read it in the official USITC lookup9903.88.68— no page here; read it in the official USITC lookup9903.88.69— Live USTR exclusion — entries from June 15, 2024 through November 9, 2026
Only the 6 9903.88 headings read line by line against 2026 HTS Revision 15 have a page here. The headings above without a link are cited to the official lookup instead.
Frequently asked questions
Is 9903.88.15 still 7.5 percent in 2026?
Yes as read. Column 1 General for 9903.88.15 reads “The duty provided in the applicable subheading + 7.5%” in 2026 HTS Revision 15, checked against the live USITC export on August 8, 2026. The rate has been 7.5 percent since February 14, 2020, when the Phase One agreement halved the original 15 percent. USITC published four revisions in fourteen days during 2026, so confirm the current release before relying on the figure for an entry.
Does List 4B still exist?
As a heading, yes; as a duty, no. List 4B is 9903.88.16, and the live USITC export carries a compiler's note on that heading recording the provision as suspended, read August 8, 2026. The scheduled List 4B tariff was suspended before it took effect and no rate is collected under it. Only List 4A, at 9903.88.15, is an operative Section 301 duty in the 4-series.
Which exclusion headings can carve a product out of List 4A?
Fourteen headings are named ahead of 9903.88.15 in its own text, but only 9903.88.69 reaches entries made now, and only through November 9, 2026. 9903.88.70 is not in this heading's clause — it appears only in 9903.88.02 — so a 9903.88.70 exclusion cannot be reported against a List 4A entry. Eligibility is set by the product description in the referenced U.S. note 20 subdivision, not by the 8-digit code alone.
How to use this page
A Chapter 99 heading is reported alongside an ordinary Chapter 1–97 classification, never instead of it, so this page is the second half of a two-part answer. Settle the ordinary classification and the country of origin first, then read U.S. note 20(r) and 20(s) against the article, then select the heading. Coverage here is by enumerated 8-digit subheading rather than by material or product family, so a neighbouring code in the same four-digit heading can sit on a different list at a different rate.
For the 9903.88 map in one table, see China Section 301 Tariffs 2026 Review, which lists the headings with their treatment and cited subdivision. To be told when the range changes, see China Section 301 alerts. For how a Chapter 99 overlay sits on top of the ordinary duty columns, see What should importers know about Section 301 tariffs?.
Sources verified for this heading
- USITC Harmonized Tariff Schedule lookup for heading 9903.88.15 (retrieved Aug 8, 2026)
- USITC Harmonized Tariff Schedule — live export for Section 301 headings 9903.88.01–9903.88.70 (retrieved Aug 8, 2026)
- USITC Harmonized Tariff Schedule — completeness probe 9903.88.01–9903.88.99, returning exactly 66 rows (retrieved Aug 8, 2026)
- USITC current-release endpoint — 2026 HTS Revision 15 (retrieved Aug 8, 2026)
- USTR — Notice of Product Exclusion Extensions, 90 FR 55232 (December 1, 2025), setting the November 9, 2026 expiry carried in the 9903.88.69 and 9903.88.70 heading text (retrieved Aug 8, 2026)
- USTR — Initiation of Second Four-Year Review Process, 91 FR 24636 (May 6, 2026), covering the China Section 301 actions (retrieved Aug 8, 2026)
Last verified: Aug 8, 2026. The article description and all three duty columns above were read from the live USITC export for 2026 HTS Revision 15 on that date. USITC published four revisions in fourteen days during 2026, so confirm the controlling heading text, the cited U.S. note subdivision, and your entry date in the official source before filing. Informational estimates only. Verify with a licensed customs broker, trade counsel, or CBP ruling before filing.