Tariff WatchSection 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, codified at 19 U.S.C. 2411, allows the United States Trade Representative to act where a foreign country maintains an act, policy or practice that is unjustifiable and burdens United States commerce. The action ordinarily takes the form of additional duties on goods of that country.
How the authority works
An investigation by USTR, then a notice of action.
USTR opens an investigation, either on petition or on its own initiative, and determines whether the acts, policies or practices under investigation are actionable. Where they are, USTR determines what action to take and publishes a notice of action in the Federal Register listing the tariff subheadings that will carry the additional duty.
An action taken under Section 301 terminates after four years unless a representative of the domestic industry requests its continuation. Where a request is made, USTR conducts a review of the action’s effectiveness. This is the mechanism behind the four-year reviews of the China lists.
The subheadings are given effect by headings in subchapter III of chapter 99, and the schedule’s own U.S. notes enumerate the covered provisions. U.S. note 20 carries the four China lists, note 20’s later subdivisions carry the exclusions, and the 2026 action is at U.S. note 52.
The China actions
Four lists from 2018 and 2019, plus a four-year review.
- Lists 1, 2 and 3. Headings 9903.88.01, .02 and .03, at twenty-five percent, in force since 2018. Together with list 4A they enumerate 10,003 subheadings, and the four lists are mutually exclusive.
- List 4A. Heading 9903.88.15, at seven and a half percent since February 2020. The rate was fifteen percent until the Phase One agreement reduced it.
- The four-year review. Headings 9903.91.01 to .03, from 27 September 2024. Rates are phased and vary by product, covering semiconductors, batteries, critical minerals, medical goods and others.
- Exclusions. Certain articles otherwise on a list are excused by an exclusion, granted under subdivisions of U.S. note 20 and administered under heading 9903.88. An exclusion removes the duty for the goods it names.
- Continuation. The second statutory four-year review is running. The continuation-request deadlines for the 2018 actions closed on 5 July and 22 August 2026 with no continuation notice published, and no notice of termination either. Pages carrying these layers say so rather than asserting the duties have lapsed or been continued.
The 2026 forced-labor action
Sixty economies, in force from 24 July 2026.
A Section 301 action covering sixty economies took effect on 24 July 2026, reported under headings 9903.05.20 to 9903.05.84, at either ten or twelve and a half percent depending on the economy. Unlike the China lists it is country-wide: it reaches goods of the named economy across the schedule rather than an enumerated list of subheadings.
Five economies are implemented as paired headings that cap the combined duty instead of adding to it. For Japan, heading 9903.05.48 covers articles whose Column 1 rate is at or above twelve and a half percent and adds nothing, while heading 9903.05.49 covers articles below that threshold and imposes a flat twelve and a half percent in place of the Column 1 rate. The European Union, South Korea, Switzerland and Taiwan follow the same pattern.
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