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
3 February 2023
(Updated on 8 February 2023)
Dear Sirs,
Commercial Information Circular No. 111/2023
US : Section 301 Tariffs on Mainland Products - Interim Extension until 15 May 2023 and Request for Comments on 81 Medical-care Products Exclusions
Further to Commercial Information Circular (CIC) no. 924/2022 of 24 November 2022, the US Trade Representative (USTR) issued a notice on 2 February 2023 seeking public comments on extension of exclusions of certain COVID products from Section 301 tariffs, which are due to expire on 28 February 2023. The comment process is from 6 February 2023 to 7 March 2023. The USTR also announced an interim 75-day extension of the 81 medical-care products exclusions, through 15 May 2023, to allow for consideration of public comments.
DETAILS
2.Since July 2018, the US has imposed additional tariffs on Mainland products worth approximately US$370 billion under the Section 301 investigation in four tranches (Lists 1-3: 25%; List 4A: 7.5%). The USTR also initiated exclusion processes for stakeholders to submit requests for the exclusion of specific products from the additional tariffs. Subsequently, 99 items of medical-care products to address the COVID-19 pandemic have been excluded from the additional tariffs until 14 November 2021. The exclusion for 81 of these 99 medical-care products were further extended until 28 February 2023, in order to address the COVID-19 Pandemic. For details, please refer to CIC Nos. 782/2021, 429/2022 and 924/2022 of 11 November 2021, 30 May 2022 and 24 November 2022 respectively.
3.On 2 February 2023, the USTR issued a notice seeking public comments on whether to extend the exclusions of certain medical-care products from Section 301 tariffs to address the COVID-19 pandemic for up to six months. The public docket on the web portal at (https://comments.ustr.gov/) is open from 6 February 2023 to 7 March 2023 for parties to submit comments.
4.To provide time for consideration of the comments received, the USTR also announced an interim 75-day extension of the 81 medical-care products exclusions, from 28 February 2023 through 15 May 2023.
5.For further details, please refer to the Federal Register notice of 7 February 2023 at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2023-02-07/pdf/2023-02570.pdf.
ENQUIRIES
6.For enquiries concerning the content of this circular, please contact Miss K Y HO at telephone number 2398 5405.
Yours faithfully,
(Miss Kwany KOU)
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.