Article by: Rick Walker, Vice President, TradeInsights, LCB/CCS

Today, the USTR announced the widely anticipated proposed changes to the Section 301 duties as generally outlined by President Biden. A copy of the notice can be found here. The Notice lists which specific HTSUS numbers are affected by the proposed changes and when the proposed changes are to take effect. See Annex A of the Notice. The President has directed that increases for certain products take effect in 2024, 2025, and 2026. The Trade Representative is proposing that increases in 2024 be effective August 1, 2024, and that increases in 2025 and 2026 be effective January 1 of the corresponding year.

In addition to the proposed modifications in Annex A, consistent with the President’s direction, the Trade Representative is establishing an exclusion process by which interested persons may request that particular machinery used in domestic manufacturing and classified within certain subheadings under Chapters 84 and 85 of HTSUS be temporarily excluded from section 301 tariffs (See Annex B). The President asked that the Trade Representative prioritize, in particular, exclusions for certain solar manufacturing equipment (Annex C).

Request for Public Comments:

In accordance with section 307(a)(2) of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2417(a)(2)), USTR invites comments from interested persons with respect to the proposed modifications. To be assured of consideration, you must submit written comments by June 28, 2024. You must submit written comments using the appropriate docket on the portal at https://comments.ustr.gov/. To submit written comments, use the docket on the portal entitled “Request for Comments: Proposed Modifications to the Section 301 Actions and Proposed Exclusion Process”, docket number USTR–2024–0007. You do not need to establish an account to submit comments. The first screen of the docket allows you to enter identification and contact information. Third party organizations such as law firms, trade associations, or customs brokers, should identify the full legal name of the organization they represent, and identify the primary point of contact for the submission. Information fields are optional; however, your comment may not be considered if insufficient information is provided.

In order to facilitate preparation of comments prior to the May 29 opening of the web portal, USTR intends to post a copy of questions for the docket by May 24, 2024. The questions will be posted at https://comments.ustr.gov. Procedures for requesting exclusions under this process will be published in a separate notice. Exclusions granted through this process will be effective through May 31, 2025.

Please contact your V. Alexander account team, or you may also contact our Trade Compliance team at tradeinsights@valexander.com with any questions.