USTR Issues First Product Exclusions From Third Tranche of Section 301 Tariffs

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative issued its first set of product exclusions from the List 3 Section 301 tariffs on goods from China. The new exclusions include 10 “specially prepared product descriptions and cover 15 separate requests, said the Friday notice. The product exclusions apply retroactively to Sept. 24, the date the List 3 tariffs took effect at 10 percent. President Donald Trump hiked List 3 to 25 percent on May 10 (see 1905060015). The exclusions will remain in effect until one year after the notice is published in the Federal Register. It took USTR roughly a month to grant the first List 3 exclusions, compared with waits of up to seven months each for Lists 1 and 2. USTR is creating Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading 9903.88.13 for the new set of exclusions, which include steel pet cages and inflatable boats, kayaks and canoes. Missing from the first of the granted List 3 exclusions were the exemptions Apple sought July 18 on 15 types of components for the Mac Pro desktop (see 1907260027).