Two 25% Section 301 tariffs from 2018 covering $32 billion of imports across more than 500 tariff subheadings are now under formal review, according to a Federal Register filing published Wednesday by the Office of the United States Trade Representative. This marks the second four-year statutory review of these levies — and compliance systems that cache HTS rate data need to start tracking two distinct timelines immediately.
The review process operates in two phases. Phase one requires domestic industries that benefit from the tariffs to submit continuation requests at least 60 days prior to the original implementation anniversaries: May 7 and July 5. These dates mark when the two separate 25% tariff tranches were originally installed in 2018. Without at least one continuation request from affected domestic industries, the corresponding tariff tranche cannot proceed to phase two.
Phase two, if triggered, opens a public comment period where USTR solicits input on tariff effectiveness and economic impact. For compliance engineering teams, this means rate changes could cascade through both review tracks on different timelines — creating a window where some subheadings within the 500+ affected lines may see modifications while others remain static.
Key dates for compliance teams: Continuation requests due at least 60 days before May 7 (first tranche) and July 5 (second tranche). Monitor Federal Register for phase two announcements if requests are filed.
The operational challenge here is straightforward but painful: more than 500 tariff subheadings are in scope, and the two-phase process means rate determinations will arrive in waves rather than a single update. Any system pulling HTS data for China-origin goods classified under these subheadings needs a mechanism to flag potential rate instability during the review window.
This review follows the first four-year review cycle, after which the Biden administration maintained the original 2018 levies and increased tariff rates for specific product categories including electric vehicles, batteries, and semiconductors. The precedent suggests that rate modifications — not wholesale elimination — are the more likely outcome when these reviews conclude.
Data integrity risk: Section 301 tariffs are layered on top of standard MFN rates. If your system treats the 25% levy as a static value for these 500+ subheadings, you risk serving stale data during and after the review process.
USTR's Wednesday filing also arrives amid broader Section 301 activity. The agency launched a probe last year into China's compliance with a 2020 trade pact, and in March initiated two additional investigations targeting manufacturing overcapacity and forced labor compliance across multiple trading partners including China, the EU, and Mexico. Trade compliance advisor Pete Mento characterized Section 301 as "basically the Swiss Army knife of U.S. trade enforcement" — a signal that teams should expect continued volatility in tariff schedules tied to this statute.
For compliance systems serving duty rate calculations, the immediate action item is clear: flag all HTS subheadings within the two 2018 Section 301 tranches as under active review. Monitor Federal Register publications for continuation requests and subsequent phase two announcements. Rate changes, if any, will propagate through this two-track process on different schedules.