On December 21st, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) posted a preliminary copy of a report that named 21 Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) subheadings that will be granted either complete or partial exclusion from Section 301 List 1 tariffs. (We understand that, to date, the USTR has denied 1,250 requests, with another 8,550 remaining in the pipeline for further review.)

At this time, the exclusions apply solely to List 1, which went into effect on July 6th, 2018 and imposed additional duties of 25% on $34 billion of Chinese products.

It is important to note that exclusions can be applied retroactively as of July 6th and will remain intact until one year after the official notice is published in the Federal Register. Furthermore, the benefits are not restricted only to the parties who filed the exclusions; all importers who have an eligible product are to claim an exemption under the new exclusions.

The list of 7 HTS subheadings that have been completely excluded from the List 1 25% tariffs are as follows:

  • 8412.21.0075, 8418.69.0120, 8480.71.8045, 8482.10.5044, 8482.10.5048, 8482.10.5052 and 8525.60.1010

The list of 14 HTS subheadings that have been granted partial exclusion from the List 1 25% tariffs are as follows:

  • 8407.21.0080, 8421.19.0000, 8421.21.0000, 8425.39.0100, 8428.32.000, 8428.33.0000, 8419.90.2000, 8420.10.9080, 8439.99.1000, 8466.92.5010, 8481.90.9040, 9022.14.0000, 9032.10.0030 and 9903.88.05.

Please note:  Full detail about the partial exclusions for the 14 HTS subheadings has yet to be published.

Shapiro will continue to monitor the situation and will provide updates as they become available. Please contact us at [email protected] with any questions related to exclusions for Section 301 Chinese tariffs.