American companies will have to pay higher taxes on some of the products they import from China, as the tariff exclusions that had shielded many businesses from President Trump’s trade war expired at midnight on Thursday, the New York Times reported. Trump began placing tariffs on more than $360 billion of Chinese goods in 2018, prompting thousands of companies to ask the administration for temporary waivers excluding them from the levies. Companies that met certain requirements were given a pass on paying the taxes, which range from 7.5 percent to 25 percent. Those included firms that import electric motors, microscopes, salad spinners, thermostats, breast pumps, ball bearings, fork lifts and other products. But the bulk of those exclusions, which could amount to billions in revenue for businesses based in the United States, were set to automatically expire at midnight on Thursday. After that, many companies have to again pay a tax to the government to import a variety of goods from China, including textiles, industrial components and other assorted products. The lack of clarity from the Trump administration about whether it would extend the exclusions left many companies in limbo. The United States had announced some extensions — on Dec. 23, the trade representative said that it would extend exclusions until March 31 for a small category of medical care products, including hand sanitizer, masks and medical devices, to help with the battle against the coronavirus pandemic. But Ben Bidwell, the director of U.S. customs at the freight forwarder C.H. Robinson, who has been helping clients apply for exclusions, said that “the large majority” of those that had been granted would expire at the end of the year, leaving importers with either an additional 7.5 percent or 25 percent tariff, depending on their product.
