The Trump administration has exempted from tariffs more than 400 products shipped from China, a move that comes as trade talks between Washington and Beijing are set to resume.
The exemptions follow more than 1,100 requests for relief from the duties and include items like dog harnesses and retractable leashes, single-speed bicycles, ink cartridges, and plastic straws, according to filings from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative published Friday.
Other products spared from the tariffs include pet drinking water fountains, skateboards, outdoor torches, and Christmas tree lights.
The goods from China will be shielded from three different sets of levies that were imposed last year as part of the president’s ongoing trade war with China. The first batch of levies on $34 billion worth of goods hit in July 2018, the second set of tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese items took effect in September 2018, and the third round of duties on $16 billion in products from China was imposed in August 2018.
The exemptions are set to expire in either August or September 2020.
Representatives from the United States and China are expected to meet next month for continued talks over a trade deal, though negotiations collapsed earlier this year. Following the stalled talks, the U.S. imposed more tariffs on Chinese goods, which prompted retaliatory levies from Beijing.
Most recently, the U.S. hiked tariffs on $300 billion in products shipped from China from 10% to 15%, the first round of which was imposed Sept. 1 with a second round taking effect Dec. 15.
Tariffs on $250 billion in exports from China were set to be raised from 25% to 30% starting Oct. 1, but the president delayed the increase until Oct. 15 “as a gesture of good will.”
China then said it would exclude U.S. soybeans and pork from a planned increase on tariffs on U.S. goods, a move that was seen as a cooling of tensions between the world’s two largest economies.
President Trump said Friday he is confident China wants to reach a deal with the U.S. and said his administration is “making a lot of progress.” But an agreement, he told reporters, doesn’t have to be made before the 2020 presidential election.
