CBP Announces Filing Procedures for New Section 301 Exclusions, Modified Treatment of Sets

CBP will add the ability in ACE for importers to file entries with the second group of excluded goods from the third tranche of Section 301 tariffs on Sept 29, it said in a CSMS message. Filers of imported products that were granted an exclusion (see 1909180004) should report the regular Chapters 38, 39, 40, 42, 44, 46, 48, 54, 55, 59, 73, 76, 83, 84, 85, 87 and 94 Harmonized Tariff Schedule number, as well as subheading 9903.88.18, 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 9903.88.18 is submitted,” CBP said.

The official USTR notice was published on Sept. 20. The exclusions are available for any product that meets the description in the Annexes to USTR’s notice, regardless of whether the importer filed an exclusion request. Exclusions are retroactive to Sept. 24, 2018, and will remain in effect until Aug. 7, 2020. The CSMS message also includes a summary of Section 301 duties and that shows information on each tranche of tariffs and granted product exclusions.

The CSMS message includes instructions specific to the USTR notice's modification of Section 301 treatment of sets to prevent double counting of Section 301 tariffs. Depending on which tranches of Section 301 tariffs cover the sets, HTS numbers 9903.88.21, 9903.88.22, 9903.88.23, 9903.88.24, 9903.88.25, 9903.88.26, 9903.88.27, 9903.88.28 and 9903.88.29 should be transmitted on the entry. Exemptions from tranche three tariffs for sets are retroactive to Sept. 24, 2018, and exemptions from tranche four tariffs for sets are retroactive to Sept. 1, 2019.

Filers that want to request refunds for exclusions on products they imported after Sept. 24, 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.