The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced a tariff exclusion request process for $200 billion worth of fasteners and other products imported from China and currently subject to a 25% duty.

Companies requesting exemptions must demonstrate that the product is available only from China, that the tariff will cause severe economic harm and that the product is “strategically important.”

If a request is granted, it will apply to all imported products within the tariff subheading, not just the company making the request. 

USTR will accept exclusion requests until Sept. 30, 2019. Any exclusions granted will be retroactive to Sept. 24, 2018, when the duties were first put in place. The exclusion will last for a period of one year after it has been granted.

To submit an exclusion request, requesters must first register on the portal at http://exclusions.USTR.gov.

Companies seeking to exclude two or more products must submit a separate request for each product, i.e., one product per request. USTR will not consider requests that identify the product using criteria that cannot be made available to the public.

U.S. President Donald Trump hiked 10% tariffs on $200 billion of fasteners and other goods manufactured in China to 25% on May 10. Fasteners are listed among the 6,031 tariff codes to be taxed by the U.S. The tariff appears to apply to nearly all fasteners imported from China.

In response, U.S. fastener importers raised prices. Importers also are looking to source fasteners from other countries.

For questions about the product exclusion process, contact USTR Assistant General Counsels Philip Butler or Megan Grimball at (202) 395–5725. For questions on customs classification or implementation of additional duties, contact traderemedy@cbp.dhs.gov.

To learn more, visit https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2019-06-24/pdf/2019-13376.pdf.