WASHINGTON, DC – The Office of the US Trade Representative
(USTR) announced a process to obtain product exclusions from the
additional tariffs in effect on certain products imported from China under the
US response to China’s unfair trade practices related to the forced transfer
of US technology and intellectual property.
According to the office of the USTR, additional tariffs of 25 percent come into effect for
Chinese products imported under 818 tariff lines, covering a trade value of
approximately $34 billion in 2018. These tariff lines contain products
identified as benefiting 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 particular product from the additional duties to address
situations that warrant excluding a particular product within a subheading, but
not the tariff subheading as a whole.
A Federal Register notice outlining the criteria and process
for a product exclusion request will be published, and public requests,
responses, and replies will be received via Regulations.gov. In making its
determination on each request, USTR may consider whether a product is available
from a source outside of China, whether the additional duties would cause
severe economic harm to the requestor or other US interests, and whether the
particular product is strategically important or related to Chinese industrial
programs including “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 opposition to the
request.
Exclusions will be effective for one year upon the
publication of the exclusion determination in the Federal Register, and will
apply retroactively to July 6, 2018.
Because exclusions will be made on a product basis, a
particular exclusion will apply to all imports of the product, regardless of
whether the importer filed a request. The US Customs and Border Protection
will apply the tariff 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 would impose tariffs on Chinese imports and take other actions in
response to China’s policies that coerce American companies into transferring
their technology and intellectual property to Chinese enterprises. These
policies bolster China’s stated intention of seizing economic leadership in
advanced technology as set forth in its industrial plans, such as “Made in
China 2025.”