The United States and China signed the Phase 1 Trade Agreement today. Specific details of the trade agreement can be read on the USTR website. For U.S. importers, the primary concern remains the tariffs. As mentioned back in December, the Phase 1 trade agreement will have the following effect on the various Section 301 China tariffs:

List 1, 2 and 3: Products subject to list 1, 2, or 3 will continue to be assessed a tariff of 25%. There is no change to this tariff.

List 4A: Products subject to list 4A are currently assessed a tariff of 15%. This tariff will be reduced to 7.5%. We are anticipating details about the timeframe for this reduction to be published in the Federal Register sometime within the next week or so. Until we hear of a specific timeframe for the reduction, importers should continue to plan on paying 15% on their products subject to List 4A tariffs.

List 4B: The list 4B tariff remains suspended.

Stay tuned for the Federal Register posting regarding the timeline for the list 4A tariff reduction.

**Update (1/16/2020): The USTR issued a notice on their website today advising that the Section 301 List 4A duty will be reduced from 15% to 7.5% on February 14, 2020. They are not making any changes to the List 1, 2, and 3 tariffs which remain at 25%.