On September 18, 2018, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) published in a Federal Register Notice (FRN), procedures to consider requests for exclusions from the Section 301 tariffs on products classified within affected tariff subheadings of Annex A of FRN 83 FR 40823 published on August 16, 2018. The list of tariffs in Annex A went into effect on August 23, 2018.
According to the FRN, the USTR prefers electronic submissions made through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov, under docket number USTR-2018-0032. The USTR will not consider requests that cannot be made available to the public. Any exclusions will have an effective starting date of August 23, 2018.
The request for exclusion must include the following information:
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Identification of the physical characteristics (e.g., dimensions, material composition, or other characteristics) of a particular product;
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The 10-digit subheading of the Harmonized Tariff System of the United States (HTSUS) applicable to the product;
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Requesters also may submit information on the ability of U.S. Customs and Border Protection to administer the exclusion.
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The annual quantity and value of the product that the requester purchased in each of the last three years or an estimate if the information is not available;
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The percentage of the requester’s total gross sales in 2017 that sales of the Chinese-origin product accounted for.
The request should also address the following:
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Whether the product, or a comparable product, may be available from sources in the U.S. or in third countries
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Whether severe economic harm would be caused by the additional duties on the product to the requester or other U.S. interests;
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Whether the particular product is strategically important or related to “Made in China 2025” or other Chinese industrial programs.
The deadline for the USTR to receive all requests to exclude a particular product is December 18, 2018.
The FRN may be found here for additional details:
Annex A of FRN 83 FR 40823 may be found here:
