The fourth round of exclusions includes, among other items, “filtering or purifying machinery,” “air purification equipment” and certain electric motors. 

As the trade dispute between the United States and China continues, some companies will receive a reprieve from additional duties. On May 14, 2019, the United States Trade Representative published a fourth round of certain exclusion requests for products subject to an additional 25 percent duty assessed under the Section 301 investigation related to goods imported from China. See 84 FR 21389. Duties for these products first became effective on July 6, 2018.

This fourth round follows the first, second and third rounds of exclusions granted by the Trade Representative on December 28, 2018, March 25, 2019, and April 18, 2019, respectively. The fourth round of exclusions includes, among other items, “filtering or purifying machinery,” “air purification equipment” and certain electric motors. The product exclusions are available for any product categorized under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) number listed in the Annexes of the Federal Register notices, regardless of whether the company filed for an exclusion request. Importantly, importers should examine the relevant HTSUS number classifications for their products, and not the product’s descriptions in the Annex, as the exclusions only apply to products listed under the relevant 10-digit HTSUS number.

The product exclusion grants, and the relevant Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) numbers for these products, can be found in the Annexes for the first, second, third and fourth rounds, as published in the Federal Register.

The product exclusions announced are retroactive to July 6, 2018, and importers will be able to recover additional duties already paid for these products.

Although the time to request exclusions has currently expired for products subject to List 1 and List 2 of Section 301 tariffs, the Trade Representative has not yet announced an exclusion process for products categorized in List 3, which was published on September 21, 2018. If subsequent trade talks with China are not successful at resolving the current dispute, the Trade Representative anticipates a new exclusion process may be announced for products in List 3.

Duane Morris will continue to follow developments related to these tariffs. Companies and importers that need instructions on how to submit entries for excluded products to Customs and Border Protection should seek professional counsel for assistance.

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