US may extend tariff suspensions on US$34 billion in Chinese goods

A file photo taken on June 24, 2019 shows containers at the Qingdao Port Foreign Trade Container Terminal in Qingdao, in China's eastern Shandong province. PHOTO: AFP

WASHINGTON (REUTERS) - The United States Trade Representative is studying whether to extend tariff suspensions on US$34 billion (S$46 billion) of Chinese goods set to expire on Dec 28 this year, the agency said on Monday (Oct 28).

The USTR, the lead US trade agency, said it would take comment on the proposed tariff suspension from Nov 1 to Nov 30.

The USTR said in December 2018 that, at the request of US importers, US$34 billion in Chinese goods would be exempt from 25 per cent tariffs first set in July of 2018.

The USTR will evaluate US importers' efforts to source the products in the United States or from third countries when it decides whether to extend tariff suspensions, according to a Federal Register notice.

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