The USTR (United States Trade Representative) has announced that on October 31, 2019, it will begin to accept tariff exclusion requests for Chinese imports that are subject to an additional 15 percent tariff (List 4), which went into effect on September 1, 2019. 

Exclusion requests will be received via the USTR exclusion request processing portal. Details regarding the application process will be published in the Federal Register next week. 

Additional exclusions for Chinese imports subject to an additional 25 percent tariff (List 3) will be issued the week of October 27, 2019 in response to approximately 150 exclusion requests. 

The criteria for requesting an exclusion includes:

• Whether the product is available only from China and is available from sources in the U.S. and or another country
  • An explanation must be provided if the product is not available outside of China or if the requester is unsure whether the product is available elsewhere
• Explanation that the requester has attempted to source the product from the U.S. or a country other than China
• Explanation that the additional duties impose severe economic hardship to the requester or other U.S. interests
• Explanation that the product being requested exclusion is part of the “made in China 2025” or other Chinese industrial programs

For more information on the Section 301 tariff exclusion request process, please click here. If you have questions about how this could impact your business, please contact us or reach out to your Ascent Global Logistics representative directly.