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Trade and Industry Department The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
Brand Hong Kong - Asia world city
MY COLOUR

Commercial Information Circulars

24-hour hotline : 23 922 922

e-mail address : enquiry@tid.gov.hk

Ref. :EIC 111/2/18
EIC 111/3
EIC 111/3/13
CR EIC 111/1/13/3

9 July 2018

Dear Sirs,

Commercial Information Circular No. 675/2018

US : Section 301 Tariffs on Certain Mainland Products - Request for Product Exclusion Process

Further to Commercial Information Circular No. 659/2018 of 6 July 2018 regarding the US' additional tariffs of 25% on 818 tariff lines of Mainland products under the US' Section 301 investigation which took effect on 6 July 2018, the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) has announced a process by which US stakeholders may request product exclusions from the additional tariffs.

DETAILS

2.The USTR promulgated in a notice of 6 July 2018 the relevant procedures for interested persons, including trade associations, to submit requests for product exclusion from the additional tariffs on 818 tariff lines of Mainland products subject to Section 301 tariffs. The exclusion process has the following important dates and features:

  • The public will have 90 days to file a request for a product exclusion; the request period will end on 9 October 2018.
  • Following public posting of the filed request on www.regulations.gov, the public will have 14 days to file responses to the request for product exclusion. After the close of the 14-day response period, interested persons will have an additional 7 days to reply to any responses received in support of or opposition to the request.
  • Exclusions will be effective for one year upon the publication of the exclusion determination in the Federal Register, and will apply retroactively to 6 July 2018.
  • Exclusions will be made on a product basis. A particular exclusion will apply to all imports of the product, regardless of whether the importer filed a request.

3.In making its determination on each request, the USTR may consider whether a product is available from a source outside of China, whether the additional duties would cause severe economic harm to the requestor or other US interests, and whether the particular product is strategically important or related to Chinese industrial programs including "Made in China 2025".

4.The USTR strongly prefers electronic submissions made through the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://regulations.gov. All submissions must be in English. Each request (one product per request) must specifically identify a particular product and provide supporting data and the rationale for the requested exclusion. The USTR has prepared a request form that will be posted on the USTR website under "Enforcement/Section 301 investigations" and on the www.regulations.gov docket in the "Supporting Documents" section . The USTR strongly encourages interested persons to use the form to submit requests, though the use of the form is not mandatory.

5.For further details of the requirements for submissions, please refer to the relevant notices:

USTR notice
https://ustr.gov/about-us/policy-offices/press-office/press-releases/2018/july/ustr-releases-product-exclusion#

Federal Register notice
https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/enforcement/301Investigations/FRN%20exclusion%20process.pdf

ENQUIRIES

6.For enquiries about the content of this circular, please contact the undersigned at 3403 6099.

Yours faithfully,

(Jasper LAM)
for Director-General of Trade and Industry

Note: While every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the above information, the Department cannot guarantee this to be so and will not be held liable for any reliance placed on the same.