The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced today that it is inviting public comments on whether to reinstate 549 China Section 301 product exclusions that had previously been extended, but are now expired. The affected China Section 301 product exclusions include 137 product exclusions under China Section 301 List 1, 59 on List 2, 266 on List 3, and 87 on List 4A. These 549 product exclusions are a small portion of the more than 2,200 total product exclusions previously approved by USTR. 

USTR has posted the text of the Federal Register notice inviting public comment, a list of the 549 product exclusions eligible for reinstatement, and an Exclusion Reinstatement Comment Form.  The deadline to submit public comments is December 1, 2021, i.e., fifty (50) days, from October 12, 2021, when the comment period opens. 

Comments on reinstating the previously-extended product exclusions will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis using the following criteria:

• Whether the product remains available only from China (despite Section 301 duties being imposed initially in September 2018) including availability in the U.S. or other sources;
• Whether reinstating or not reinstating the exclusion will impact or result in severe economic harm to the requestor or other U.S. interests, including the impact on small businesses, employment, manufacturing output, and critical supply chains in the United States; and
• The overall impact of the exclusions on the goal of obtaining the elimination of China’s acts, polices, and practices covered in the Section 301 investigation.

Comments in support or opposition must be filed using the USTR portal https://comments.USTR.gov. The exclusion reinstatement filing requires a great deal of information, including values, quantities, gross revenues, etc.

Reinstated product exclusions would be retroactive with respect to merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after October 12, 2021, so long as the entries are not liquidated at the time the claim to apply the reinstated product exclusion is made to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The language makes no mention of Protests or Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) merchandise. USTR is also seeking comments on the appropriate length of reinstated product exclusions. As to the potential for other, new China Section 301 product exclusions, in remarks yesterday USTR said it “will keep open the potential for additional exclusion processes, as warranted.”

The text of the Federal Register notice inviting public comment is available here: Microsoft Word - 301 FRN (ustr.gov)

The list of 549 extended exclusions is available here: Annex of Previously Extended Exclusions for Website pab HA.pdf (ustr.gov)

Please contact Marshall Miller, Brian Murphy, Sean Murray, or Bryan Brown with questions or for assistance in preparing product exclusion reinstatement requests. Clients may contact Brenda Zeller to obtain an updated comprehensive China Section 301 product exclusion spreadsheet which includes the 549 product exclusions that are eligible for reinstatement.