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USTR Releases Product Exclusion Process for Chinese Products Subject to Sect
ion 301 Tariffs
Washington, DC – The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) today a
nnounced a process to obtain product exclusions from the additional tariffs
in effect on certain products imported from China under the U.S. response to
China’s unfair trade practices related to the forced transfer of U.S. tech
nology and intellectual property.
Today, additional tariffs of 25 percent come into effect for Chinese product
s imported under 818 tariff lines, covering a trade value of approximately $
34 billion in 2018. These tariff lines contain products identified as benefi
ting from China’s industrial policies, including the “Made in China 2025”
program. The list of products subject to tariffs was determined by a 90-day
process that included public hearings and a notice and comment period.
USTR is providing an opportunity for the public to request exclusion of a pa
rticular product from the additional duties to address situations that warra
nt excluding a particular product within a subheading, but not the tariff su
bheading as a whole.
A Federal Register notice outlining the criteria and process for a product e
xclusion request will be published, and public requests, responses, and repl
ies will be received via Regulations.gov. In making its determination on eac
h request, USTR may consider whether a product is available from a source ou
tside of China, whether the additional duties would cause severe economic ha
rm to the requestor or other U.S. interests, and whether the particular prod
uct is strategically important or related to Chinese industrial programs inc
luding “Made in China 2025”.
The exclusion process has the following important dates and features:
The public will have 90 days to file a request for a product exclusion; the
request period will end on October 9, 2018.
Following public posting of the filed request on Regulations.gov, the public
will have 14 days to file responses to the request for product exclusion.
After the close of the 14 day response period, interested persons will have
an additional 7 days to reply to any responses received in support of or opp
osition to the request.
Exclusions will be effective for one year upon the publication of the exclus
ion determination in the Federal Register, and will apply retroactively to J
uly 6, 2018.
Because exclusions will be made on a product basis, a particular exclusion w
ill apply to all imports of the product, regardless of whether the importer
filed a request. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection will apply the tarif
f exclusions based on the product.
The tariff action on China is part of USTR’s Section 301 investigation and
follows President Trump’s announcement in March that the United States woul
d impose tariffs on Chinese imports and take other actions in response to Ch
ina’s policies that coerce American companies into transferring their techn
ology and intellectual property to Chinese enterprises. These policies bolst
er China’s stated intention of seizing economic leadership in advanced tech
nology as set forth in its industrial plans, such as “Made in China 2025.”
The text of the Federal Register notice can be viewed here. Formal publicati
on of the Federal Register notice will occur next week.