We said we would follow up once the September 24 summit played out. It has, and the short version is that the headline moved more than the underlying rules did. The truce deadline slid two months, a long product list was published, and almost none of it changes what you pay at the border today. Here is the sorted version.
What was extended: November 10 became January 10
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on September 23 that the truce between the two countries, which was due to end November 10, 2026, now runs to January 10, 2027. That extension has been reported across many outlets. In the trade-press coverage we checked through early October, we found it described as a spoken announcement, with no written Treasury or USTR notice and no mention of the truce in the White House fact sheet of September 25. It is probably reliable. It is also a different kind of document than a Federal Register notice, which matters for the dates below.
The Board of Trade lists: published, not implemented
The more concrete news came September 27, when the White House released the lists behind the "30-for-30" idea: roughly $30 billion of trade in "non-sensitive" goods in each direction that could receive tariff relief.
- The US list covers 77 tariff lines of Chinese goods. Categories include small kitchen appliances, toys (excluding those with wireless features), holiday decorations and lights, child car seats and highchairs, plastic tableware, umbrellas, artificial flowers, flashlights, sporting goods, fishing gear, and vacuum flasks.
- China's list covers more than 1,000 subheadings of US goods.
- The documents call these recommendations. Under the Board of Trade's terms of reference, reductions are to be "determined and implemented in accordance with each side's domestic legal processes." On the US side, law firms expect that means a USTR notice-and-comment process to modify the existing Section 301 tariffs, and that implementation could take months.
- If cuts come, they would generally bring rates down to the most-favored-nation level. China's Ministry of Commerce said about 90% of the identified products would reach that level.
- Product values are based on 2024 trade data, and adjustments are expected no more than once a year.
If you import one of those product types, the practical move is to match your HTS codes against the published lists, note your current duty stack, and keep that number in your pricing until a notice actually appears. A list is not a rate cut.
The 7.5% overcapacity tariff: still not published
The reported 7.5% Section 301 "overcapacity" tariff on Chinese goods, which we covered in August, was not published before the summit. Reporting says the administration hoped to, but that the underlying report proved legally difficult to finalize, and the final rate is now uncertain. If a 7.5% layer were imposed on top of the 12.5% forced-labor Section 301 tariff, the combined new layer would be 20%, equal to the old IEEPA rate it would effectively replace. That is arithmetic, not an announcement. Nothing is final.
Two dates the truce headline doesn't move
This is the part to put on your calendar, because the truce extension was announced verbally and these dates sit in written notices.
- The Section 301 port-fee suspension ends November 9. USTR's November 2025 Federal Register notice suspended the fees on Chinese-linked vessels from November 10, 2025 through 11:59 p.m. Eastern on November 9, 2026 (the tariff-schedule headings carry November 10). The notice says USTR "will consider whether it is appropriate to continue the suspension period." As of trade-press checks through October 6, no extension notice had been published, and trade associations asked USTR on September 23 to extend it. If the fees resume, cargo owners typically see them as carrier surcharges.
- The 178 China Section 301 product exclusions are reported by several trade-compliance sources to run through November 9, 2026, with no extension announced in what we found. If you rely on one, check your HTS code against USTR's list and plan for the duty to apply after that date.
Both of these are worth checking with your broker directly. A verbal truce extension does not automatically amend a written notice, and we have not seen any text that says it does.
What to do now
- Don't price in relief that isn't in effect. No tariff reduction from the Board of Trade is live.
- Check the 77-line US list against your HTS codes and note which products could benefit later.
- Put November 9 on your calendar for port fees and the 178 exclusions, and ask your broker whether you are exposed to either.
- Treat January 10, 2027 as a deadline, not a settlement. It is a pause, and it falls before Lunar New Year shipping season.
- Keep your costs current in the tariff calculator when a rate does change.
This reflects public reporting, law-firm analysis, and the White House and USTR documents cited, as of October 17, 2026. It is not legal or customs advice. The January 10 extension was announced verbally and no written notice was located; the November 9 dates come from a Federal Register notice and trade-press reporting. Confirm current status with USTR or a licensed customs broker before making sourcing decisions.