The US Trade Representative’s (USTR) office recently excluded dozens of medical products imported from China, including face masks, hand sanitising wipes and examination gloves, from import tariffs, according to filings with the agency. Many exclusion requests for medical products seem to have been expedited amid the novel coronavirus outbreak.
Approvals have been granted just over a month past a January 31 application deadline. Several such exclusions were granted on March 5, USTR documents showed.The US Trade Representative's (USTR) office recently excluded dozens of medical products imported from China, including face masks, hand sanitising wipes and examination gloves, from import tariffs, according to filings with the agency. Many exclusion requests for medical products seem to have been expedited amid the novel coronavirus outbreak.#
Requests to exclude other products from Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods have taken months, according to a news agency report.
Medline International Inc has already received exclusions on 30 products ranging from surgical gowns to face masks and medicine cups, most of which the company applied for at the end of January.
The tariff rate on the medical products was initially set at 15 per cent, but was lowered to 7.5 per cent on February 15 as part of the Phase 1 US-China Trade Agreement. The deal leaves in place tariffs on about $370 billion worth of imports from China, including 25 per cent duties on goods valued at around $250 billion.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)