USTR Releases Much Awaited Section 301 List 3 Exclusion Process Instructions

​The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) released the much awaited exclusion process for Section 301 List 3 tariffs on June 20th. The process will require requestors to use USTR’s exclusion web portal, a new portal intended to be easier for users than the portal used for List 1 and 2 processes. However, the new portal is not yet open with its released scheduled for 12:00 p.m. EST on Sunday, June 30th.
 
The instructions for the new process, found here, will allow parties to request exclusion from List 3 products which comprise more than $200 billion worth of goods. The tariff rate for these goods escalated to 25% in March.
 
The process itself is similar to the process set in place for List 1 and List 2, with some notable differences. For example, companies will have an opportunity to explain the impact of previous Section 301 tariffs on their business and a question has been added for companies to indicate whether they meet the standard to be classified as a small business in accordance with the Small Business Administration definition.
 
The deadline for and exclusion request is September 30, 2019. One a request has been filed, interested parties have 14 days to submit comments, either in support or opposition. A timeline has also been established for responses to comments. Because all of the comment windows are short, interested parties should be actively monitoring requests to ensure their ability to respond in outlined windows.
 
Currently, USTR is expecting 60,000 requests to be submitted. No timeline for decision making has been provided, rather USTR has indicated periodic announcements to requests will be made.