USTR Grants Section 301 Exclusions for Some Medical Products, Bluetooth Devices
The Office of U.S. Trade Representative announced a new round of Section 301 tariff exclusions (see 2005110005) that includes some medical supplies that were included in the fourth tranche of tariffs.
New subheading 9903.88.47 will be used for the new exclusions. The new set of exclusions are reflected in “three 10-digit [Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS)] subheadings and five specially prepared product descriptions, which together respond to 27 separate exclusion requests,” according to the notice. The product exclusions apply retroactively to Sept. 1, 2019, and will remain in effect until Sept. 1, 2020.
The subheadings are:
- 3306.20.0000
- 6506.10.6030
- 8512.10.4000
The product descriptions are:
- Tumblers or disposable graduated liners for pitchers, of plastics, of a kind used in healthcare facilities (described in statistical reporting number 3924.10.4000)
- Disposable identification wristbands of plastics, designed to be worn by patients during medical procedures, each consisting of a plastics strip with an integrated window for inserting paper with relevant patient identification information, such bracelets measuring 0.95 cm or more but not more than 3.2 cm in width and having a secure closure (described in statistical reporting number 3926.90.9990)
- Manually operated pill or tablet crushers of plastics, presented with attachable pouches of plastics for capturing and storing the resulting powders (described in statistical reporting number 8479.82.0080)
- Tracking devices, each device measuring not more than 86 mm on a side (if rectangular) or 28 mm in diameter (if circular) and not more than 7.5 mm in thickness, not weighing more than 15 g, designed to be attached to another article and to establish a Bluetooth connection with another device for the purposes of providing relative location information (described in statistical reporting number 8517.62.0090)
- Wireless communication apparatus capable of receiving audio data to be distributed to wireless speakers (described in statistical reporting number 8517.62.0090).
USTR also issued two notices correcting previously issued exclusions. One notice makes technical corrections to exclusions from the first group of Section 301 tariffs found in U.S. Note 20(q) to subchapter III of Chapter 99 of the tariff schedule. The other makes technical corrections to exclusions from the second group of tariffs found in U.S. Notes 20(v) and 20(y). The technical corrections “are retroactive to the date the original exclusions were published and do not further extend the period for the original exclusions,” USTR said.