Law & Order

USTR Grants Several Exclusions From China’s List 3 Tariffs, Including for Certain Fuel Filters

By SEMA Washington, D.C., Staff

The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) granted exclusion requests for 47 List 3 products imported from China and subject to 25% tariffs. Only a few items are auto-related, including:

  • Fuel filters for internal-combustion engines, each consisting of a cylindrical case of plastics with an internal mesh filter measuring not more than 8 cm in length and not more than 5.5 cm in diameter (described in statistical reporting number 8421.23.0000).
  • Jacks of steel with zinc coating for supporting the tongues of trailers, each measuring not less than 60 cm in retracted condition and not less than 85 cm in extended condition, with a maximum width of 17 cm and a maximum load capacity of 455 kg (described in statistical reporting number 8425.49.0000).
  • AC motors, single phase, each of an output exceeding 74.6 W but not exceeding 335 W, measuring not more than 13 cm in diameter and not more than 13 cm in height and with a shaft measuring not more than 39 cm in length (described in statistical reporting number 8501.40.4040).
  • View the entire list

The time period for List 3 exclusions is September 24, 2018–August 7, 2020, no matter when the exclusion request is granted. (Originally the USTR was not going to grant exclusions for the September 24, 2018–May 8, 2019, time period when the tariffs were at 10%, but still provide one year after the exclusion was granted. Instead, the USTR decided that a fixed time period would be easier to administer as it continues to process thousands of exclusion requests.) The time period for requesting an exclusion ended September 30, 2019.

An exclusion is product-specific, not company-specific. That means a company which did not request the exclusion may still benefit although the benefit may be narrowly applied. For example, the beneficiary company may need to demonstrate that its product’s technical specifications are related and the product can be used in the same manner as the excluded product.

For more information, contact Stuart Gosswein at stuartg@sema.org.