CBP Announces Filing Procedures for Products Granted Section 301 Exclusions

CBP on Feb. 10 added the ability in ACE for importers to file entries with exclusions from Section 301 duties, it said in a CSMS message issued two days earlier. Filers of imported products that were granted an exclusion should report the regular chapter 1-97 Harmonized Tariff Schedule number, as well as subheading 9905.88.05 for products subject to Section 301 duties on products from China but that have been granted an exemption by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. “Do not submit the corresponding Chapter 99 HTS number for the Section 301 duties when HTS 9903.88.05 is submitted,” CBP said.

USTR announced the first batch of excluded products on Dec. 28 (see 1812240010), but CBP had been unable to program the ability to use the exemptions because of the partial federal government shutdown (see 1812310007). The exclusions are available for any product that meets the description in the Annex to USTR’s notice, regardless of whether the importer filed an exclusion request. Exclusions are retroactive to July 6, and will remain in effect until December 2019.

Filers that want to request refunds for exclusions on products they imported after July 6 should submit a post-summary correction using the same procedures outlined for filing entries, CBP said. If the entry has already liquidated, importers may protest the liquidation, it said. “Imports which have been granted a product exclusion from the Section 301 measures, and which are not subject to the Section 301 duties, are not covered by the [Foreign-Trade Zones] provisions of the Section 301 Federal Register notices, but instead are subject to the FTZ provisions in 19 CFR part 146,” CBP said.