The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has published a Federal Register notice announcing additional Section 301 tariff exclusions for certain imported Chinese products appearing on List 3. These products have been subject to Section 301 tariffs since September 24, 2018, when President Donald Trump announced additional import duties on Chinese goods with an annual trade value of approximately $200 billion.
This batch of approved product exclusions covers one 10-digit Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) subheading in its entirety and 46 specially-prepared product descriptions covering, in total, 67 separately-filed exclusion requests. The excluded HTS subheading is 6505.00.8015, which covers “hats and other headgear, knitted or crocheted, or made up from lace, felt or other textile fabric, in the piece (but not in strips), whether or not lined or trimmed; hair-nets of any material, whether or not lined or trimmed: not in part of braid; nonwoven disposable headgear without peaks or visors.” The exclusions with specially-prepared product descriptions include but are not limited to: various chemicals; certain stuff sacks of man-made fibers; leather covers for telecommunication devices; certain wood flooring; various types of fabrics wholly of cotton; certain woven and non-woven fabrics made of synthetics, polyester, or polyethylene terephthalate; certain portable outdoor cookers; certain aluminum clamps and sewer hose supports; certain aluminum shovels; certain fuel filters for internal combustion engines; certain digital electronic scales; certain lottery ticket vending terminals; certain hand-operated gate valves; certain 48V rectifiers for telecommunications wireline and wireless apparatus; certain power supplies for cable networks for converting voltage; certain other power supplies with varying input and output wattage; certain electrical inverters; tags for acousto-magnetic security systems; certain printed circuit board assemblies; certain toddler beds made of wood; and certain fireplace mantels made of wood.
These product exclusions will be retroactive to September 24, 2018, and remain in effect until August 7, 2020. These exclusions apply to any product that satisfies the description in the annex of the Federal Register notice, regardless of whether the company using the exclusion filed the request. Each exclusion is governed by the scope of the HTS heading and the product description appearing in the annex of the exclusion notice; it is not governed by the product description set out in any particular exclusion request. U.S. Customs and Border Protection will soon issue instructions on entry guidance and implementation. USTR will continue to issue determinations on pending requests on a periodic basis.