Office of the United States Trade Representative.
Notice and request for comments.
In a notice published on June 20, 2018, the U.S. Trade Representative
USTR must receive requests to exclude a particular product by October 9, 2018. Responses to a request for exclusion of a particular product are due 14 days after the request is posted in docket number USTR–2018–0025 on
USTR strongly prefers electronic submissions made through the Federal eRulemaking Portal:
For questions about the product exclusion process, contact USTR Assistant General Counsel Arthur Tsao or Director of Industrial Goods Justin Hoffmann at (202) 395–5725. For questions on customs classification or implementation of additional duties, contact
On August 18, 2017, the Trade Representative initiated an investigation of the government of China's acts, policies, and practices related to technology transfer, intellectual property, and innovation.
The April 6, 2018 notice invited public comment on a proposed action in the investigation: The imposition of an additional
USTR and the interagency Section 301 Committee carefully reviewed the public comments and the testimony from the three day public hearing. USTR and the Section 301 Committee also carefully reviewed the extent to which the tariff subheadings in the April 6, 2018 notice included products containing industrially significant technology, including technologies and products related to the “Made in China 2025” program. Based on this review process, on June 20, 2018, the Trade Representative determined that appropriate action in this investigation includes the imposition of an additional
During the notice and comment process, a number of interested persons asserted that specific products within a particular tariff subheading only were available from China, that imposition of additional duties on the specific products would cause severe economic harm to a U.S. interest, and that the specific products were not strategically important or related to the “Made in China 2025” program. In light of such concerns, the Trade Representative determined to establish a process by which U.S. stakeholders may request that particular products classified within a covered HTSUS subheading be excluded from the additional duties. That process is set out in the remainder of this notice.
USTR invites interested persons, including trade associations, to submit requests for exclusion from the additional duties of a particular product classified within a HTSUS subheading set out in Annex A of the notice published at 83 FR 28710 (June 20, 2018). As explained in more detail below, each request must specifically identify a particular product, and provide supporting data and the rationale for the requested exclusion. USTR will evaluate each request on a case-by-case basis, taking into account whether the exclusion would undermine the objective of the Section 301 investigation. Any exclusion will be effective starting from the July 6, 2018 effective date of the additional duties, and extend for
With regard to product identification, any request for exclusion must include the following information:
• Identification of the particular product in terms of the physical characteristics (
• The 10 digit subheading of the HTSUS most applicable to the particular product requested for exclusion.
• Requestors also may submit information on the ability of U.S. Customs and Border Protection to administer the exclusion.
• Requestors must provide the annual quantity and value of the Chinese-origin product that the requestor purchased in each of the last three years. For trade association requestors, please provide such information based on your members' data. If precise annual quantity and value information is not available, please provide an estimate and explain the basis for the estimation.
With regard to the rationale for the requested exclusion, each request for exclusion should address the following factors:
• Whether the particular product is available only from China. In addressing
• Whether the imposition of additional duties on the particular product would cause severe economic harm to the requestor or other U.S. interests.
• Whether the particular product is strategically important or related to “Made in China 2025” or other Chinese industrial programs.
Requestors may also provide any other information or data that they consider relevant to an evaluation of the request.
Any request that contains business confidential information (BCI) must be accompanied by a public version. The public version will be posted on
After a request for exclusion of a particular product is posted on docket number USTR 2018–0025, interested persons will have
After a response is posted on docket number USTR 2018–0025, interested persons will have the opportunity to reply to the response. Any reply must be posted within
As noted above, interested persons must submit requests for exclusions by October 9, 2018; any responses to those requests must be submitted within 14 days after the requests are posted; and any reply to a response must be submitted within 7 days after the close of the 14 day response period. Interested persons seeking to exclude two or more products must submit a separate request for each product,
All submissions must include a statement that the submitter certifies that the information provided is complete and correct to the best of his or her knowledge.
To assist in review of requests for exclusion, USTR has prepared a request form that will be posted on the USTR website under “Enforcement/Section 301 investigations” and on the
To submit requests via
File names for requests for exclusions should include the 10 digit subheading of the HTSUS most applicable to the particular product and the name of the person or entity submitting the comments (
To respond to a request for exclusion, please find the request in the “primary documents” section of the docket and click on the link titled “comment now!” associated with that specific request. Responses made on requests for exclusion will appear in the “comments” section of the docket.
File names for responses to requests should include the document ID of the request and the name of the person or entity submitting the response (
To reply to a response made to an exclusion request, please find the exclusion request that is the subject of the response in the “primary documents” section of the docket and click on the link titled “comment now!”. Replies will appear in the “comments” section of the docket.
File names for replies should include the document ID of the response and the name of the person or entity submitting the reply (
For further information on using the
USTR prefers that you submit requests for product exclusions in an attached document. If you attach a document, it is sufficient to type “see attached” in the “comment” field. USTR strongly prefers that you make submissions using the request form that will be posted on the USTR website under “Enforcement/Section 301 investigations” and on the
Please do not attach separate cover letters to electronic submissions; rather, include any information that might appear in a cover letter in the comments themselves. Similarly, to the extent possible, please include any exhibits, annexes, or other attachments in the same file as the comment itself, rather than submitting them as separate files.
For any documents submitted electronically containing BCI, the file name of the business confidential version should end with the characters “BC”. Any page containing BCI must be clearly marked “BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL” on the top of that page and the submission should clearly indicate, via brackets, highlighting, or other means, the specific information that is business confidential. If you request business confidential treatment, you must certify in writing that disclosure of the information would endanger trade secrets or profitability, and that the information would not customarily be released to the public. Filers of submissions containing BCI
USTR will post submissions in the docket for public inspection, except BCI. You can view submissions on the