Washington to Send Chile Tariff Exemptions Plan Within Two Weeks
Chile · TRADE
Key Facts
- —Timing Washington is due to return with wider Chile tariff exemptions within about two weeks.
- —Rate The Section 301 surcharge on Chilean goods is 12.5 percent since late July 2026.
- —Coverage About 53 percent of Chilean exports already enter the United States duty free.
- —Copper Refined copper cathodes stay outside both the surcharge and the metals tariff.
- —Trade Chile shipped goods worth US$18.371 billion to the United States in 2025.
Santiago waits on a list that could decide the season for salmon, fruit and wine exporters.
The United States is expected to send Chile a new proposal within two weeks on which goods escape its 12.5 percent tariff. Wider Chile tariff exemptions were the central demand Santiago carried into last week’s talks.
The proposal Santiago is waiting for
Paula Estévez said on 26 August that the United States would return with a fresh offer. She heads Subrei, Chile’s Undersecretariat for International Economic Relations, which runs the talks.
Her words to radio Infinita were plain: the next round is virtual, in two weeks. Washington would then say which new products become exempt, she said.
Diario Financiero reported on 27 August that the offer would pass from USTR to Subrei. USTR is the Office of the United States Trade Representative, which built the tariff case.
Neither government has published a signed timetable for the Chile tariff exemptions round. Estévez was careful to say the Santiago meetings closed without any agreement.
Why the surcharge exists at all
The duty comes from a Section 301 investigation into failures to bar goods made with forced labor. USTR opened cases against 60 economies covering almost all United States imports.
Economies with a law banning such imports were set at 10 percent. Those without one, Chile among them, were set at 12.5 percent.
A presidential memorandum of 23 July 2026 put the measure in force the next day. It replaced a temporary 10 percent rate that had applied until then.
Chile’s foreign ministry answered that the finding names no Chilean product made with forced labor. It said the measure does not match the evidence Santiago supplied.
Which goods already escape the charge
About 53 percent of Chilean exports to the United States enter at zero, Estévez said. Roughly 40.7 percent of them pay the 12.5 percent surcharge.
The current Chile tariff exemptions cover refined copper, lithium, gold and silver. Fresh oranges, kiwis and avocados were carved out as well.
Salmon, table grapes, blueberries, wine, poultry, salt and wood products all pay. Frozen fruit, lemons and some dairy lines are caught too.
Chile presented arguments across about 900 tariff lines during the Santiago meetings. Its case rests on counter-seasonality, gaps in United States supply and harm to American buyers.
Copper follows a different rulebook
Copper is Chile’s largest export to the United States and sits outside the 12.5 percent duty. It falls instead under Section 232, the national security tariff on metals.
That measure carries 50 percent on semi-finished copper and on many derivative goods. Refined copper cathodes, the form Chile mostly ships, were left out.
The proclamation set a later path for refined copper: 15 percent in 2027 and 30 percent from 2028. Those rates are scheduled rather than collected today.
Goods already covered by Section 232 are excluded from the forced labor surcharge. That is why copper never appears on the Chile tariff exemptions wish list.
The trade at stake between the two countries
Chile sold goods worth US$18.371 billion to the United States in 2025, up 10.9 percent. That was 16.7 percent of all Chilean exports, according to Subrei.
Purchases from the United States reached US$16.552 billion, a rise of 3.3 percent. The United States is Chile’s second trading partner, behind China.
The main shipments north are copper cathodes, salmon, grapes, blueberries, gold and silver. Wood manufactures, mandarins and fresh cherries follow close behind.
Chile’s sales to the United States grew faster last year than its purchases from it. That left Santiago with a surplus of about US$1.8 billion in goods.
What the 2004 free trade agreement still does
Chile and the United States have held a free trade agreement, or FTA, since 2004. Under it almost all Chilean goods enter at a zero base rate.
The new surcharge does not cancel that treaty; it is stacked on top of it. Chile still starts from zero, while countries without an FTA start higher.
That relative advantage is the main protection the treaty still buys Santiago. Exporters argue the surcharge breaks the spirit of the deal even so.
The treaty’s tariff schedules were phased down to zero over twelve years. The surcharge does not reopen them, so the base duty stays at zero.
Exporters press for a longer list
Antonio Walker, who leads the Sociedad Nacional de Agricultura, or SNA, spoke on 24 August. He said the aim is to recover the zero tariff written into the treaty.
The SNA wants the whole agri-food basket covered, with no product or region left out. It puts the cost to fresh fruit at about 367 billion Chilean pesos (US$400 million).
That conversion uses the dólar observado of 918.42 pesos, published for 27 August 2026. Chile’s fruit exporters put their own 2026/27 loss at US$388.6 million.
Frutas de Chile is the trade name of Asoex, the Chilean fruit exporters’ association. Its president, Iván Marambio, called the resumed talks a good sign for a wider exempt list.
SalmónChile’s president, Patricio Melero, says Chilean salmon supplies over 40 percent of the United States market. Industry estimates put the salmon tariff bill near US$500 million.
The timetable, and the risk of nothing
The next exchange is virtual and set for roughly two weeks after the Santiago round. A further in-person meeting would follow only if the two sides converge.
Estévez has played down speed, saying little will change inside a month. Officials have pointed instead to a span of about two months.
If no wider Chile tariff exemptions arrive, the 12.5 percent charge simply stays in place. Chile would keep its zero base rate and pay the surcharge above it.
Washington has also floated a reciprocal trade agreement that would set a 10 percent floor. Chile has resisted, preferring to defend the treaty it already holds.
A domestic law banning forced labor imports is the other route to the lower band. No such statute sits on Chile’s books today.
Frequently Asked Questions
When will the United States present its proposal?
Paula Estévez said on 26 August that the next round is virtual, in about two weeks. Washington is expected to bring a revised list of exempt goods then.
Which Chilean products are exempt today?
Refined copper, lithium, gold, silver, fresh oranges, kiwis and avocados sit outside the charge. Wider Chile tariff exemptions would add salmon, fruit, wine and wood.
Does the 2004 free trade agreement still help exporters?
Yes, in part, because the FTA keeps Chile’s base tariff at zero on almost all goods. The 12.5 percent surcharge is then added on top of that base rate.
Connected Coverage
Chile Tariff Talks With Washington Resume in Santiago
IMF Renews Chile’s Credit Line With a US$11.8 Billion Backstop
Sources
- www.emol.com
- publimicro.cl
- www.subrei.gob.cl
- www.carey.cl
- www.theclinic.cl
- www.df.cl
- www.df.cl
- www.subrei.gob.cl
- www.sna.cl
- www.theclinic.cl
- www.cooperativa.cl
- ustr.gov
- mindicador.cl
- riotimesonline.com
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