U.S. & China Announce Tariff Relief for Certain Products

On September 27, 2026, the White House announced new developments from the U.S.-China Board of Trade, called “30-FOR-30.” Under this initiative, the United States and China have identified certain items, “with a view toward providing reduced tariff treatment to those goods in a reciprocal manner.” See the China imports list of goods here, and the U.S. imports list here.

Following the recent visit between the U.S. and China on September 25, the Board has formally published its working procedures and terms of reference. However, the 30-FOR-30 framework does not specify final tariff rates, statutory authority, or effective implementation dates. It merely reflects an intent to negotiate and reduce tariffs on specific products included in those lists in the future.

The lists included 1,619 items of U.S. goods entering China, and for Chinese goods exported to the U.S., 77 categories were involved. The 77 eligible Harmonized Tariff Schedule (“HTS”) lines categorize six product categories: textiles and linens, Christmas ornaments and festive decorations, toys and children’s products, small appliances and electrical goods, automotive components (child safety seats), and miscellaneous industrial and consumer goods.

Currently, some of the products included on the list are subject to, in addition to the most-favored-nation (“MFN”) tariff, additional country-specific tariffs, including Section 301 tariffs. According to WTHR Channel 13 NBC, “[t]ariff rates on over 90% of the products would be subject to ‘most-favored-nation’ levels, the Chinese commerce ministry said.” This suggests that the products included on those lists would be subject only to the applicable MFN tariff, with the country-specific tariffs eliminated.

Although the declaration of the China’s Ministry of Commerce suggests MFN-rate tariff relief on over 90% of eligible products on those lists, no official tariff rates have been disclosed yet, and we recommend importers do not rely on any tariff reduction until USTR formally proclaims the mechanism with specified rates and implementation procedures.

Should you have questions concerning the legal basis, tariff rate specifications, implementation timeline, or potential impact of the U.S.-China Board of Trade mechanism on your specific imports, please contact one of our trade law professionals listed here.