Coronavirus: US excludes Chinese face masks and medical gear from trade war tariffs
- Approvals for products like sanitising wipes and surgical gowns appear to have been expedited, with some being granted in just over a month
- Requested exclusions for other items, like Apple AirPods, still pending after several months
The US Trade Representative’s office in recent days granted exclusions from import tariffs for dozens of medical products imported from China, including face masks, hand sanitising wipes and examination gloves, filings with the agency showed on Friday.
Many of the exclusion requests for medical products appear to have been expedited amid the rapidly spreading coronavirus outbreak, with approvals granted just over one month past a January 31 application deadline.
Requests to exclude other products from US President Donald Trump’s Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods have taken months.
Apple’s requests for exclusions on products from AirPod headphones to the HomePod smart speaker filed on October 31 are still pending.
Medline International 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.