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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

16 March 2020
(updated on 18 March 2020)

Dear Sirs,

Commercial Information Circular No. 218/2020

US : Section 301 Tariffs on Mainland Products Worth US$200 billion - Tenth Batch of Products Excluded from Additional Tariffs

The US Trade Representative (USTR) announced on 12 March 2020 the tenth batch of products to be excluded from the additional tariffs imposed on Mainland products worth approximately US$200 billion ("List 3") under the Section 301 investigation and the official Federal Register (FR) notice was issued on 16 March 2020. These product exclusions will be retroactive to 24 September 2018, and remain in place until 7 August 2020. The USTR will continue to issue decisions on pending requests on a periodic basis.

DETAILS

2.On 24 September 2018, the US imposed an additional tariff of 10% on Mainland imports worth approximately US$200 billion ("List 3") under the Section 301 investigation. The tariff was increased from 10% to 25% on 10 May 2019. The USTR also initiated an exclusion process for stakeholders to submit requests for the exclusion of specific products from the additional tariffs. Subsequently, the USTR announced nine batches of excluded products from August 2019 to February 2020. For details, please refer to Commercial Information Circular nos. 594/2019, 703/2019, 771/2019, 811/2019, 858/2019, 900/2019, 12/2020, 89/2020 and 138/2020 dated 5 August 2019, 19 September 2019, 24 October 2019, 8 November 2019, 27 November 2019, 13 December 2019, 3 January 2020, 5 February 2020 and 21 February 2020 respectively.

3.On 12 March 2020, the USTR announced the tenth batch of products to be excluded from the additional tariffs. The products include five existing 10-digit HTSUS subheadings 3923.21.0030, 3923.21.0095, 3926.20.9050, 4015.19.1010 and 5603.12.0090 covering certain sacks and bags (including cones) of polymers of ethylene; articles of apparel and clothing accessories (other than gloves, mittens and mitts); disposable seamless gloves of vulcanized rubber other than hard rubber; and certain nonwovens of man-made filaments.

4.These product exclusions will be retroactive to 24 September 2018, and remain in place until 7 August 2020. The exclusions are available for any product that meets the description set out in the exclusion, regardless of whether the importer filed an exclusion request. The USTR will continue to issue decisions on pending requests on a periodic basis.

5.For further details, please refer to the relevant notices:

  • FR notice on the tenth batch of products excluded from Section 301 tariffs (16 March 2020):
    https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2020-03-16/pdf/2020-05310.pdf
  • US Customs and Border Protection's guidance note on filing entries for products excluded from Section 301 Tariffs (List 3) (17 March 2020):
    https://content.govdelivery.com/bulletins/gd/USDHSCBP-2819dc3?wgt_ref=USDHSCBP_WIDGET_2

ENQUIRIES

6.For enquiries concerning the content of this circular, please contact Miss K Y HO at telephone number 2398 5405.

Yours faithfully,

(Miss Ivy TAM)
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.