Live processes
Which US tariff actions accept product-specific requests, who may file, on what cycle, and whether outcomes are published. Verified against primary sources on 2026-09-09.
The short answer: none of them. No live US tariff action currently operates a product-specific exclusion request process that publishes per-request outcomes.
The map
| Action | Status | Request path for an importer? | Outcomes published? |
|---|---|---|---|
| §301 China technology transfer, 2018 |
tariffs live 179 exclusions in the schedule (USTR's notice said 178) |
No new-request process. Only USTR-initiated extension comment dockets on exclusions already granted. | No per-request decisions |
| §301 forced labor 60 economies, eff. 24 Jul 2026 |
live | No — expressly refused. Exemptions are set by USTR in Annexes I/II by HTSUS subheading. In the tariff schedule as U.S. note 52 — headings 9903.05.20–9903.05.99 and 9903.06.01–9903.06.21. Corrected 2026-09-10: this row briefly said the action was absent from the schedule. | No per-request outcomes exist |
| §301 Brazil 25%, eff. 22 Jul 2026 |
live | No request process identified. Exemptions fixed in HTSUS 9903.05.02–9903.05.09. | No |
| §232 steel & aluminium — exclusions | closed 10 Feb 2025 | Closed. Existing exclusions run to expiry or volume exhaustion; General Approved Exclusions revoked 12 Mar 2025. | Historical only |
| §232 — inclusions steel/aluminium and auto parts |
live | Reverse direction. Domestic producers petition to add products to tariff scope. An importer's only role is to object, in a short window. | Yes — determination memoranda with rationale, on regulations.gov. Auto parts opens a new docket per window |
| §301 machinery exclusions docket USTR-2024-0020 |
closed 31 Mar 2025 | Closed. 1,111 request forms remain publicly readable. See what was argued. | No — none was ever published |
| §301 China — second four-year review | live, phase two pending | Not yet. Continuation requests (domestic industry only) closed 5 Jul and 22 Aug 2026. Phase two would open comments to all interested parties. | Comment dockets are public |
| IEEPA tariffs | struck down 20 Feb 2026 | Not applicable — the tariffs themselves were held invalid. | A refund process, not an exclusion process |
What USTR said when it was asked for an exclusion process
Certain comments recommended the Trade Representative establish an exclusion process… Establishing an exclusion process that would result in lowering of tariffs on additional products would be inconsistent with the President's direction.
Notice of Actions in Section 301 Investigations, 28 July 2026 (FR doc 2026-15181), §III.G
USTR received over 1,600 written comments and held hearings over three days. The section addressing requests to add products to the exemption list is titled Determination Not To Exempt Additional Products.
The dates that matter
- 10 November 2026 — the China §301 exclusions still in force expire (179 in the schedule; USTR's notice said 178). The operative cutoff is entries for consumption before 11:59pm ET on 9 November. There is no new-request process to fall back on and no guarantee of a further extension. This set has been extended 7 times since 2022, and the last 3 notices were published after the date they extended — see the record.
- Each §232 inclusions window — the procedures provide for steel and aluminium windows three times a year and auto-parts windows quarterly. The Federal Register shows fewer: one steel and aluminium window since June 2025 (15–29 September 2025), and auto-parts windows in January and April 2026. Separately, on 6 August 2026 Commerce proposed adding 14 derivative article categories to Section 232 scope, with comments closing on 27 August — 21 days. Each can bring new HTS lines into tariff scope, and the time to respond is short.
- Phase two of the second four-year review — pending announcement as of 2026-09-09.
A note on the last item. Phase two of the first four-year review is what produced the machinery exclusion process. That is a statement about what happened before, not a forecast of what will happen now.
This page is generated from the project's process map, which carries the full source citations and records which items were verified against a primary notice and which rest on secondary summaries. Map document length: 253 lines.