The USTR announced that it will invite public comment regarding whether to extend the first set of granted tariff exclusions on Chinese imports affected by Section 301 List 1 tariffs. If granted, the extension would provide an additional 12 months of relief.
This process functions as an extension request process for parties already benefitting from these exclusions for items granted in December 2018 and currently set to expire on December 28, 2019. At this time, the USTR is not considering comments concerning the extension of exclusions announced at any other time. Additionally, this process affects only granted exclusions and does not permit for new exclusion requests. The notice is available here.
The USTR will evaluate the possible extension of each exclusion on a case-by-case basis, focusing on whether the particular product remains available only from China and degree of economic harm to the commenter or other U.S. interests. Commenters will need to specifically address:
· Whether the particular product and/or a comparable product is available from sources in the US and/or in third countries;
· Any changes in the global supply chain with respect to this particular product since July 2018, or any other relevant industry developments;
· Any efforts the importer or U.S. purchasers have undertaken since July 2018 to source the product from the U.S. or third countries;
· Whether the product is subject to Antidumping or Countervailing duties;
· Financial information, including the value and quantity of Chinese-origin, domestic-origin and third-country origin product covered by the exclusion purchased in 2018, the first half of 2018 and the first half of 2019, and the commenter’s gross revenue for these time frames; and
· Whether Chinese suppliers have lowered their prices for these products following the imposition of these duties.
Comments will be submitted via a government portal beginning November 1, 2019 at noon EDT. All comments must be submitted by November 30, 2019 at 11:59 PM EDT. All general commenters are to fill out Form A. Commenters who are importers and/or purchasers of the product covered by the exclusion should complete Form B, which contains Business Confidential Information. Information submitted in Form B will not be posted to the public docket. The forms are available here.
Anyone that obtained an exclusion on December 28, 2018 that does not complete this process will lose the benefit.
Should you require assistance in preparing comments to the USTR, please contact one of the trade professionals listed here.