The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has announced the process for requesting extensions for China Section 301 List 1 and List 2 product exclusions set to expire in July 2020 (i.e., the 6th tranche of List 1 product exclusions and the 1st tranche of List 2 product exclusions).  Interested parties may submit product exclusion extension requests beginning May 1, 2020 until June 1, 2020.  Clients using product exclusions for List 1 or List 2 products set to expire in July 2020 are encouraged to request an extension by June 1 to preserve the exclusions.  

The List 1 product exclusions expiring on July 9 cover (110) product specific descriptions and include certain heat exchangers, water tanks, compression-ignition engines, pumps and pump parts, impellers, compressors, fork-lifts, shovel loaders, escalator and elevator parts, seeder or spreader parts, chipper/shredder machines, valves, ball bearings, electric motors, generators, transformers, capacitors, and rotary switches.  The List 2 product exclusions set to expiring on July 31, 2020 are set forth in sixty-nine (69) product specific description and include certain polyethylene and PVC products films and sheets, engines, heat guns, air amplifiers, aroma-spraying sets, pet products, hand-cleaning dispensers, oral irrigators, electric motors, fertilizer distributors, rotary tillers, bearing housings, wheel speed sensors, audio amplifiers, LED lamps, infrared thermometers, and motorcycles.

Whether or not a company requested a product exclusion, China Section 301 product exclusions are available for all merchandise meeting the description in the approved product exclusion.  Therefore, a company may request extension of a product exclusion even if it did not request the initial exclusion.  Companies and other interested parties may file comments in support or opposition to extending an exclusion.  The extension process uses forms that are different from the initial List 1 and List 2 product exclusion requests.  Required information includes whether merchandise is available in the U.S., the quantity of merchandise sourced from China or domestic sources, and the economic harm to U.S. companies from these increased duties.

Please contact Marshall Miller, Brian Murphy, Sean Murray, or Ryan Thornton with questions or for assistance in filing exclusion extension requests.  Contact Ryan Thornton for our proprietary China Section 301 product exclusion spreadsheet.