Tariff WatchAn exclusion removes a trade-remedy duty for the goods it describes. It is granted by the agency administering the action, published in the Federal Register, and given effect by a heading in chapter 99.
Section 301 exclusions
Granted by USTR, administered under heading 9903.88.
Exclusions from the China actions are granted by the United States Trade Representative and take effect through subdivisions of U.S. note 20 to subchapter III, which enumerate the covered provisions or describe the goods in prose. An excluded article is entered under the administering heading and does not carry the Section 301 duty.
An exclusion may be product-specific, describing an article more narrowly than any tariff line does, in which case it cannot be applied from the classification alone. Exclusions are also time-limited and are extended, allowed to lapse, or reinstated by later notice.
Section 232 exclusions and exemptions
Product exclusions, and exemptions written into the action.
The Section 232 actions carry exclusions of two kinds. Some are exemptions written into the proclamation itself, reaching a class of goods or a country. Others are product exclusions granted on application to the Department of Commerce, which are specific to a requester and a product and are administered through their own chapter 99 headings.
How exclusions are treated here
Not applied. The duty shown may be excused.
The Section 301 lists are applied per code from U.S. note 20, but the exclusion subdivisions of that note are deliberately not read as scope. An exclusion removes a duty, and applying one as though it were scope would impose a duty on exactly the goods it excuses.
The consequence is that a line on a list shows the duty even where an exclusion would excuse it. An applicable exclusion has to be checked against the note.
Related
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