CBP Announces Filing Procedures for First Group of Second Tranche Products Granted Section 301 Exclusions

CBP added the ability in ACE for importers to file entries with the first group of excluded goods from the second tranche of Section 301 tariffs on Aug. 1, it said in a CSMS message. Filers of imported products that were granted an exclusion (see 1907290023) should report the regular Chapters 39, 84, 85, 86, 87 and 90 Harmonized Tariff Schedule number, as well as subheading 9903.88.12, for products subject to Section 301 duties on products from China but that have been granted an exclusion by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. “Importers shall not submit the corresponding Chapter 99 HTS number for the Section 301 duties when HTS 9903.88.12 is submitted,” CBP said.

The official USTR notice was published on July 31. 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 Aug. 23, 2018, and will remain in effect until July 31, 2020. The CSMS message also includes "a summary of Section 301 Duties and Product Exclusion Notifications" that shows information on each tranche of tariffs and granted product exclusions.

Filers that want to request refunds for exclusions on products they imported after Aug. 23, 2018, should submit a post-summary correction using the same procedures outlined for filing entries, CBP said. If the entry has already been 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 Zone (FTZ) provisions of the Section 301 Federal Register notices, but instead are subject to the FTZ provisions in 19 CFR part 146,” CBP said.