The Weekly Roar

US Trade Representative Lists Exclusions and Additions to China Tariffs

Exclusions — Third Tranche

The first set of exclusions from the third tranche of $200 billion in Section 301 tariffs on goods from China have been announced by the U.S. Trade Representative and published in the Federal Register.

These exclusions are in effect retroactively from September 24, 2018 — the date the third tranche went into effect — and will remain in effect until August 7, 2020 (one year after their publication date).

Special product descriptions have been prepared for each of the excluded goods. To take advantage of these exclusions, goods must satisfy the full description below.

  1. Container units of plastics, each comprising a tub and lid therefore, configured or fitted for the conveyance, packing, or dispensing of wet wipes (described in statistical reporting number 3923.10.9000)
  2. Injection molded polypropylene plastic caps or lids each weighing not over 24 grams designed for dispensing wet wipes (described in statistical reporting number 3923.50.0000)
  3. Kayak paddles, double ended, with shafts of aluminum and blades of fiberglass reinforced nylon (described in statistical reporting number 3926.90.3000)
  4. High tenacity polyester yarn not over 600 decitex (described in statistical reporting number 5402.20.3010)
  5. Nonwovens weighing more than 25 g/m2 but not more than 70 g/m2 in rolls, not impregnated coated or covered (described in statistical reporting number 5603.92.0090)
  6. Pet cages of steel (described in statistical reporting number 7323.99.9080)
  7. Carts, not mechanically propelled, each with three or four wheels, of the kind used for household shopping (described in statistical reporting number 8716.80.5090)
  8. Truck trailer skirt brackets, other than parts of general use of Section XV (described in statistical reporting number 8716.90.5060)
  9. Inflatable boats, other than kayaks and canoes, with over 20 gauge polyvinyl chloride (PVC), each valued at $500 or less and weighing not over 52 kg (described in statistical reporting number 8903.10.0060)
  10. Inflatable kayaks and canoes, with over 20 gauge polyvinyl chloride (PVC), each valued at $500 or less and weighing not over 22 kg (described in statistical reporting number 8903.10.0060)

Be sure that your teams are made aware of these exclusions so you can take full advantage of them.

Exclusion requests may still be submitted through September 30, 2019. As stated in the June 24 announcement of the exclusion process, requests must address the following scenarios:

  • Whether the particular product is available only from China and specifically whether the particular product and/or a comparable product is available from sources in the United States and/or third countries.
  • 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.

If more exclusions are granted, they will be announced on a periodic basis. Watch for news of those announcements here.

Additions — Fourth Tranche

The USTR has posted the more than 5,000 products included in List 4 of the Section 301 China tariffs.  These products will be subject to an additional tariff of 10%. Certain products that appeared on the proposed list on May 17, 2019 have been removed and will not face an additional tariff of 10%.

The complete list has been broken into two sub-lists. Click the links below to see each list.

List 4A (Effective September 1, 2019)

List 4B (Effective December 15, 2019)

There will be a process for requesting exclusions, but that process has not been announced at this time.

Jaguar Freight is committed to keeping you informed. Contact us here.