Today, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative ("USTR") published a notice in the Federal Register announcing the consideration of possible extensions for certain exclusions granted for products on List 3 of the Section 301 trade action against China.  Product exclusions eligible for extension include 659 individual List 3 exclusions granted between August 2019 and March 2020 contained in 11 separate exclusion announcements.  Products receiving extensions would remain excluded from the 25 percent Section 301 duties for List 3 for an additional 12 months.  The comment docket is currently open and the deadline for submission of comments is June 8, 2020.

USTR has previously considered extensions for seven different rounds of expiring product exclusions on List 1 and List 2, with two pending determination and two still open for comments on the possible product extensions.  Unlike products on List 1 and List 2, all List 3 exclusions are set to expire on the same day, August 7, 2020.  Therefore, this is the only opportunity to comment on extension of this set of List 3 product exclusions.  A list of the exclusions eligible for extension can be found here.  Please let us know as soon as possible if any of the products on this list are important to you.

To date, USTR has granted extensions for 25 out of the 85 eligible product exclusions, with only 51 exclusions receiving comment on extension. No exclusions have been extended by USTR in the absence of comments  in support of extension. T herefore, we recommend that you strongly consider submitting comments in support of the extension of any product exclusions benefitting you or your suppliers.

Additionally, USTR separately announced the granting of a new round of product exclusions.  This round covers two entire 10-digit HTS codes, as well as 144 specially-prepared product descriptions.  Products granted exclusions in this round include several dried food products, certain bamboo plywood and laminated flooring, hydraulic jacks, power supplies, cable harnesses, lamps, and certain chairs and furniture products.  

Although these exclusions, along with the April 2020 round of exclusions, also expire on August 7, 2020, neither the April nor May rounds of exclusions are currently eligible for the 12-month extension.   We anticipate a separate period for comment on the possible extension of exclusions granted from April 2020 onward.