On March 20, 2020, the Office of the United States Trade
Representative (USTR) announced that it was opening a docket to consider additional modifications to
tariffs being imposed on China-origin medical-care products
pursuant to Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. USTR is taking
this step "in an effort to keep current on developments in our
national fight against the coronavirus pandemic." This new
procedure is in addition to the ongoing product-specific exclusion
processes that USTR is conducting on the so-called Section 301
Lists 3 and 4.
According to a Notice scheduled to appear in the Federal
Register on March 25, this procedure will provide an
opportunity for interested parties to request exclusions for any
medical-care products that could be used in COVID-19 response
efforts, regardless of whether the particular product in question
is subject to a pending or denied exclusion request. The docket
will remain open until June 25, 2020, and USTR may extend
