Section 301 Exclusions Granted: List 1

The U.S.T.R. has announced Section 301 exclusions granted for List 1. Although exclusion to only 20 HTSUS codes have been issued at the moment, more may be granted.

On December 28, 2018, the United States Trade Representative released an official announcement to the Federal Register with a list of Section 301 exclusions granted for List 1. These exclusions are effective for goods entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on July 6, 2018. Therefore, the exclusion will be retroactive and remain in place for one year after the date of publication in the Federal Register of the exclusion determination. There have since been multiple rounds of exclusions, including: Round 2, Round 3, Round 4, Round 5, and Round 6.

These Section 301 exclusions must be claimed using the new HTSUS subheading 9903.88.05. And are available for any product that fits the product description regardless of if the importer was the one to file the exclusion.

What is Included in the Section 301 Exclusions for List 1?

The list of exclusions for List one includes seven existing 10-digit HTSUS subheadings and 30 specially prepared product descriptions (described in 14 statistical reporting numbers).

The following are the HTSUS specified in the announcement:

• 8412.21.0075
• 8418.69.0120
• 8480.71.8045
• 8482.10.5044
• 8482.10.5048
• 8482.10.5052
• 8525.60.1010

The rest of the exclusions are on 24 specially prepared product descriptions published by the U.S.T.R. These products cover items such as certain spark-ignition engines for marine propulsion, stainless steel stretchers, roller machines with dies for embossing paper, plastic salad spinners, water filtration apparatus, winches, elevators, belt conveyors, work stands, radiation therapy systems, thermostats, stainless steel guards, stainless steel scrapers, and stainless steel suction boxes.

To see a full list of the HTSUS codes from List 1 that have been granted an exclusion, view this PDF from Trade Risk Guaranty.

The Trade Representative will continue to issue determinations on pending requests on a periodic basis. Read about the Round 2 Exclusions and the Round 3 Exclusions.

How Are These Exclusions Impacted By the Government Shutdown?

As of December 22, 2018, the United States government has been shut down and the federal workforce has not been fully functioning. This situation has many rippling effects on different departments within the government, including U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

A government shutdown effects Customs is different ways, but most departments are deemed essential and therefore continue to operate. However, in regards to the newly released exclusions, new information is not being added to the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE).

According to CBP, updates to ACE to reflect the tariff exclusions will not be implemented until ten business days after the shutdown has concluded.

This means that until then importers that qualify for the exclusions will have to continue paying the additional tariff on affected goods. Also, entries and entry summaries of such goods must be submitted without the HTSUS Chapter 99 product exclusion numbers referenced in the Federal Register notice of the product exclusions and will be rejected by ACE if those numbers are transmitted.

CBP also notes that once it issues guidance and implements ACE enhancements filers may submit post-summary corrections or protests to obtain refunds.