FILE PHOTO: Chinese and U.S. flags flutter near The Bund, before U.S. trade delegation meet their Chinese counterparts for talks in Shanghai, China July 30, 2019. REUTERS/Aly Song

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States Trade Representative is studying whether to extend tariff suspensions on $34 billion of Chinese goods set to expire on Dec. 28 this year, the agency said on Monday.

The USTR, the lead U.S. trade agency, said it would take comment on the proposed tariff suspension from Nov. 1 to Nov. 30. The USTR said in December 2018 that, at the request of U.S. importers, $34 billion in Chinese goods would be exempt from 25% tariffs first set in July of 2018.

The USTR will evaluate U.S. importers’ efforts to source the products in the United States or from third countries when it decides whether to extend tariff suspensions, according to a Federal Register notice.