FreightFigures published a 24 September 2026 importer playbook after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the US-China Busan trade detente, due to end 10 November 2026, would run to 10 January 2027. The site stresses that a verbal truce extension is not the same as amending the Federal Register instruments that govern entry-level duty treatment.
Two US measures most relevant to importers remain pinned to their own notices: the 178 Section 301 China product exclusions under heading 9903.88.69 (FR Doc 2025-21671), expiring 11:59 p.m. ET 9 November 2026, and the suspension of Section 301 maritime service fees on Chinese-owned, -operated, and -built vessels (FR Doc 2025-19873), running through 9 November 2026. FreightFigures says neither moves automatically with the truce; each needs a new USTR notice.
The article's base case is that USTR will extend both, because the last exclusion extension was framed as part of the economic arrangement with China. Risks remain on timing (prior extension published after expiry, creating a one-day gap), scope (list could be trimmed), and the truce itself if summit follow-through falters.
FreightFigures also separates the Section 301 structural excess-capacity investigation: nothing in Bessent's announcement addressed it. A reported 7.5% additional duty on Chinese goods would sit on its own clock and would also cover other economies outside the China truce.
Practical steps listed: inventory 9903.88.69 exposure with the broker, keep the November contingency live until notices publish, use bonded warehouse entry for covered post-deadline arrivals rather than paying the full list rate in a gap, and watch carrier surcharge advisories, the USTR press page, and CBP CSMS before assuming fees stay paused.