The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) published a federal register notice today outlining the process for submitting Section 301 exclusion requests for List 3. The USTR noted that if an exclusion is granted, it will effective from the day the 10% tariff came to effect (i.e. from September 24, 2018). The USTR also introduced a new “web portal” for exclusion request. The key dates moving forward are:
- June 30, 2019 at noon EDT: The web portal for submitting exclusion requests – http://exclusions.USTR.gov – will open.
- September 30, 2019: Deadline for submitting exclusion requests.
The federal register notice introduced new questions and data points that were not included in the exclusion request forms for lists 1 and 2 and concern:
- The value in USD of the product being requested, and
- The quantity (with units) of the product that a requestor purchased from any third-country source in 2017, 2018, and the first quarter of 2019, and
- The value in USD and quantity (with units) of the product of concern purchased from domestic sources in 2017, 2018, and the first quarter of 2019.
The USTR exclusion request form also asks whether the requestor is a small business under the requirements of the Small Business Administration. And whether the company has attempted to “source product from the United States or third countries” in addition to the factors considered by the USTR in the exclusion request processes for the previous lists. After a request for exclusion of a particular product is posted on USTR’s online portal, interested persons have 14 days to respond to the request, indicating support or opposition and providing reasons for their view.