The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) today released a notice for publication in the Federal Register that provides a list of imports from China that are not subject to the 25% additional customs duty pursuant to the action relating to Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974—that is, a list of product exclusions.
The USTR notice [PDF 450 KB] states that the product exclusions will apply as of July 6, 2018, and that this list will apply for one year after April 18, 2019 (the date of publication of this notice).
An annex to today’s USTR notice lists the exclusions in 21 specially prepared product descriptions, covering 348 separate exclusion requests. The exclusions are available for any product that meets the description in the annex, regardless of whether the importer filed an exclusion request. Also, the scope of each exclusion is governed by the scope of the product descriptions in the annex to the USTR notice, and not by the product descriptions set out in any particular request for exclusion.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection will issue instructions on entry guidance and implementation.
The USTR effective July 6, 2018, imposed additional duties at a customs duty rate of 25% on goods of China with an annual trade value of approximately $34 billion pursuant to the Section 301 investigation of China’s acts, policies, and practices related to technology transfer, intellectual property, and innovation. The USTR initiated an exclusion process in July 2018, and stakeholders were directed to submit requests for the Section 301 exclusion of specific products.
In December 2018 and March 2019, the USTR granted two prior sets (tranches) of exclusion requests. Today’s USTR notice announces that additional exclusion requests are granted. Further, the notice states that the USTR will continue to issue decisions on pending requests on a periodic basis.
Read a KPMG report that provides an overview of the Section 301 exclusions that apply for U.S. imports from China: TradeNewsFlash
For more information on this topic or to learn more about KPMG’s Trade & Customs Services, contact:
Doug Zuvich |
John L. McLoughlin |
Andy Siciliano |
Luis (Lou) Abad |
Irina Vaysfeld |
Amie Ahanchian |
Robert Waldrop |
Gisele Belotto |
Christopher Young |
Andy Doornaert |
George Zaharatos |
Jessica Libby |
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