On February 5, 2020, the US Trade Representative (USTR) published in the Federal Register a notice of product exclusions from the $200 Bn action (List or Tranche 3) against Chinese products under Sec. 301. The USTR initiated a product exclusion process in June 2019, and interested persons have submitted requests for the exclusion of specific products. This notice announces the USTR’s determination to grant certain exclusion requests, as specified in the Annex, and corrects technical errors in previously announced exclusions. The product exclusions announced in this notice will apply as of September 24, 2018, the effective date of the $200 billion action, to August 7, 2020. The amendments announced in this notice are retroactive to the date the original exclusions were published.
As set forth in the Annex to the notice, the exclusions are reflected in 2 10-digit HTSUS subheadings, which cover 52 requests, and 117 specially prepared product descriptions, which cover 156 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. Further, the scope of each exclusion is governed by the scope of the product descriptions in the Annex, and not by the product descriptions found in any particular request for exclusion.
- Annex Subparagraph A(1) inserts a new heading 9903.88.38 into the HTSUS.
- Annex Subparagraph A(2) inserts a new US note 20(qq) to subchapter III of chapter 99 in numerical sequence and lists the granted exclusions.
- Subparagraphs A(3-7) of the Annex contain conforming amendments to the HTSUS reflecting the modifications made by the Annex.
- Paragraph B of the Annex contains amendments reflecting technical corrections to the specially prepared product descriptions in certain notes to the HTSUS, specifically US note 20(ll)(26), published at 84 Fed. Reg. 57803 (October 29, 2019), and US note 20(nn)(20), published at 84 Fed. Reg. 61674 (November 13, 2019).
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will issue instructions on entry guidance and implementation.
