The Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) has posted on its website an advance copy of a notice to published in the Federal Register that announces the USTR’s determination to grant certain exclusion requests for products covered by Tranche 4 (approximately $300 Bn.) of the Section 301 action against goods from China, as specified in the Annex to the notice, and corrects a technical error in a previously announced exclusion. The product exclusions announced in the notice will apply as of September 1, 2019, the effective date of List 1 of the $300 billion action, and will extend to September 1, 2020.
As set out in the Annex to the notice, the exclusions are reflected in three 10-digit HTSUS subheadings and five specially prepared product descriptions, which together respond to 27 separate exclusion requests. In accordance with the October 24 notice announcing the procedures for requesting exclusions, the exclusions are available for any product that meets the description in the Annex, regardless of whether the importer filed an exclusion request. Further, the scope of each exclusion is governed by the scope of the 10-digit HTSUS subheading as described in the Annex, and not by the product descriptions set out in any particular request for exclusion.
- Paragraph A, subparagraphs (1)-(2) of the Annex create a new subheading 9903.88.47 for the exclusions and a new US note 20 (zz) to subchapter III of chapter 99, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS).
- Paragraph A, subparagraphs (3)-(4) of the Annex contain conforming amendments to the HTSUS reflecting the modifications made by the Annex.
- Paragraph B, subparagraph (1) makes a technical correction to U.S. note 20(uu)(9), published at 85 FR 15244 (March 17, 2020).
