List 4A Exclusion Process to Open on October 31, 2019

On October 24, 2019, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) published a Federal Register notice announcing that the electronic portal for submission of requests to exclude particular products from List 1 of the fourth tranche (List 4A) of Section 301 tariffs will open on October 31, 2019. List 4A imposes additional 15-percent tariffs on products imported from China effective September 1, 2019. The published notice can be read here.
 
Product exclusions must be submitted through the new online portal at http://exclusions.ustr.gov, which opens at noon EDT on October 31, with a final deadline of January 31, 2020. Parties supporting or objecting to such exclusion requests must file responses no later than 14 days after the request is posted on the portal. Any replies to those responses will be due seven days after the close of the 14-day period, or seven days after the posting of a response on the portal, whichever is later.
 
The List 4A exclusion form is substantially similar to the one provided for List 3 products. In addition, the new portal also requires the following information and data points that were not included in the previous exclusion request form:

• The requestor’s import and revenue data for the first half of 2019 instead of the first quarter of 2019.
• Whether the product is subject to an antidumping or countervailing duty order issued by the U.S. Department of Commerce.

With respect to the rationale for the requested exclusion, USTR will require similar information to that included in the Lists 1, 2 and 3 criteria:

• Whether the particular product is available only from China or can be sourced from the United States or third countries.
• Whether the requester has attempted to source the product from the United States or third countries.
• Whether the imposition of additional duties have caused or will cause severe economic harm to the requester.
• Whether the particular product is a strategically important to the “Made in China 2025” initiative or other Chinese industrial programs.

If a product exclusion petition is granted by USTR, exclusions and corresponding refunds of the 15-percent duties will be retroactive to September 1, 2019, when the List 4A tariffs were first imposed, and any granted exclusions will be valid for one year from the date of publication of the exclusion determination in the Federal Register.
 
Companies wishing to participate in product exclusion procedures and explore strategies to maximizing duty savings should contact our BDO Customs and International Trade Services professionals.