The recently signed U.S. government spending plan includes provisions for an exemption request process for duties applied against Chinese exports in September. So far only products where duties were applied in July and August have been eligible. It may be too soon for U.S. importers to get their hopes up.

Firstly the outcome of negotiations between the U.S. and China – and the resulting need for an exemption process – remains uncertain. Second the process is already lengthy, with only 33.7% of requests made by 1,668 companies for exemption from July and August tariffs having be...