On June 3, 2020, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced the process for requesting extensions for certain China Section 301 List 3 product exclusions recently approved in late April and May which are set to expire on August 7, 2020. These List 3 product exclusions have been granted in three (3) different rounds between April 24, 2020 and May 28, 2020 and cover twenty (20) ten-digit HTS classifications and three hundred and twelve (312) product specific descriptions. Extension requests for these three (3) rounds of List 3 product exclusions granted on or after April 24, 2020 may be submitted from June 8, 2020 to July 7, 2020.

This latest product exclusion extension request period will immediately follow the product exclusion extension request period for the remaining China Section 301 List 3 product exclusions granted prior to April 24, 2020. 85 Fed. Reg. 27011 (May 6, 2020). For China Section 301 List 3 product exclusions granted prior to April 24, 2020, extension request must be submitted by June 8, 2020. For a comprehensive spreadsheet of the List 1, 2, 3, and 4A product exclusions, contact Ryan Thornton for our proprietary China Section 301 product exclusion spreadsheet. 

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. Clients using these List 3 product exclusions are encouraged to file extension requests by July 7 (or by June 8 for the other List 3 product exclusions granted prior to April 24, 2020) to preserve the exclusions. Companies and other interested parties may file comments supporting or opposing extending an exclusion. The USTR indicates that the “focus of the evaluation will be whether, despite the first imposition of these additional duties in September 2018, the particular product remains available only from China.” 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.