U.S. to start tariff exclusion process for Chinese imports

The United States would establish an exclusion process that will involve 300 billion U.S. dollars worth of Chinese goods.

A truck passes by China Shipping containers at the Port of Los Angeles, California on September 1, 2019. [Photo: AFP/ Mark RALSTON]

In a notice published on Sunday, the U.S. Trade Representative(USTR) announced that it would establish a process by which U.S. stakeholders may request an exclusion from additional duties of particular products classified within a tariff subheading covered by the August 2019 action.

The U.S. interested parties must submit requests for exclusions in the period between October 31, 2019, and January 31, 2020, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) said in a statement earlier.

The USTR will evaluate each request on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the asserted rationale for the exclusion, whether the exclusion would undermine the objective of the Section 301 investigation, and whether the request defines the product with sufficient precision.

If the exclusion application is approved, the additional tariffs that have been imposed since September 1, 2019 can be returned.

On Tuesday, Chinese Ministry of Commerce also reported the U.S. exclusion process on its website.