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                                                                                            Updated October 26, 2020

Section 301: Tariff Exclusions on U.S. Imports from China


In 2018, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) determined,
pursuant to an investigation under Section 301 (Title III
of the Trade Act of 1974, 19 U.S.C. §§2411-2420), that
China's acts, policies, and practices related to technology
transfer, intellectual property (IP), and innovation are
unreasonable or discriminatory and burden or restrict U.S.
commerce.  To counter them and obtain their elimination,
the Trump  Administration imposed, under Section 301, four
rounds of increased tariffs on approximately two-thirds of
U.S. imports from China. However, to avoid harm to U.S.
interests, the USTR instituted tariff exclusions for certain
U.S. imports that would otherwise be subject to tariffs. This
is the first time that the agency has established an exclusion
request process, and several Members of Congress have
raised concerns about its implementation.
In particular, some Members have questioned USTR's
ability to pick winners and losers through granting or
denying requests or have pushed for broad tariff relief amid
concerns about the negative impact of tariffs on the U.S.
economy.  Others, however, not wanting to undermine the
use of Section 301 to address China's unfair trade practices,
have discouraged the USTR  from granting tariff exclusions
at all. To date, the agency has established an exclusion
process for each of the four stages of tariff increases under
Section 301   all of which have now closed. The USTR's
latest action in response to the Coronavirus Disease 2019
(COVID-19)   pandemic  seems to indicate that new
exclusions might be limited in scope to medical supplies
related to COVID-19, and not be aimed at providing
broader tariff relief.

In August 2017, long-standing concerns over China's
policies on IP, subsidies, technology, and innovation led the
USTR   to launch an investigation under Section 301  into
those policies and their impact on U.S. stakeholders. The
investigation concluded that four broad policies or practices
justified U.S. action: (1) China's forced technology transfer
requirements, (2) cyber-enabled theft of U.S. IP and trade
secrets, (3) discriminatory and non-market-based licensing
practices, and (4) state-funded strategic acquisition of U.S.
assets. Subsequently, as part of its efforts to pressure China
to change these practices, the United States imposed
additional tariffs, of up to 25%, on certain U.S. imports
from China under four separate actions (per Lists 1, 2, 3,
and 4).
During the Section 301 notice, hearing, and comment
period on proposed tariff increases, the USTR heard
numerous  U.S. stakeholders who expressed concerns about
how  additional tariffs could affect their businesses, as well
as U.S. consumers. In response, for each Section 301 action
regarding a new list of covered products, the USTR created
a process whereby interested parties could request that a
particular product be excluded from the tariffs, subject to
certain criteria. Title III of the Trade Act of 1974 does not
outline a formal process for exclusions or require the USTR


to establish one. The determination to do so appears to be
solely at the USTR's discretion.
With the COVID-19   pandemic, the agency has recently
prioritized the review of exclusion requests concerning
medical products, resulting in new exclusions for some
personal protective equipment (PPE) in short supply.
Separately, the USTR recently requested public comments
on whether to remove additional products covered by any
list that are relevant to the U.S. response to COVID-19.
Figure  I. Section 301 Exclusions


Exclusion Requests
& Granced $ Dened

List I 13


List 2

List 3

List 4


Exclusions Granted
      HTSUS   Spc

        17    714

        0     270


42     950


-                                   30
o      8.0 o :o600 14.000 320


186


Source: CRS with information from the Office of the USTR.
Note: Figures may not reflect amendments to product-specific exclusions and
do not include requests submitted on or after March 25, 2020, in response to
85 FR 16987. However, exclusions granted to date and noted here may have
been informed by those requests.
.ectio n 3,'P . Tariff ExcAusion Pocs
The tariff exclusion process enabled interested parties
including law firms, trade associations, and customs
brokers   to petition for an exemption from the Section 301
tariff increases for specific imports classified within a 10-
digit Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States
(HTSUS)   subheading. The time window  to submit new
exclusion requests is now closed, but the USTR is
considering extensions of exclusions granted from Lists 1,
2, 3, and 4. While the USTR approved, on average, 35% of
requests under the first two actions, the approval rates under
the third and four actions were 5% and 7%, respectively.
According  to the USTR, all requests are evaluated on a
case-by-case basis. The agency has indicated that, in
determining which requests to grant, it considers the
following: (1) availability of the product in question from
non-Chinese  sources, (2) attempts by the importer to source
the product from the United States or third countries, (3) the
extent to which the imposition of Section 301 tariffs on the
particular product will cause severe economic harm to the
importer or other U.S. interests, and (4) the strategic
importance of the product to Made in China 2025 or other
Chinese industrial programs. Past exclusions also have been
granted for reasons that are thought to include, among
others, U.S. national security interests and demonstrable
economic  hardship from the tariffs for small businesses.


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