ALEXANDRIA, Va.—The Vision Council has announced that the U.S. Trade Representative has published the procedures for requesting an exclusion from additional China 301 duties for products classified within a tariff subheading set out on Annex A to List 4 (which was published Aug. 20, 2019). The window for seeking product exemptions will open at noon on Oct. 31 and close on Jan. 31, 2020, according to The Vision Council’s announcement. As the association previously noted, the Annex A to List 4 contains the tariff numbers associated with most of The Vision Council’s key member products, including lenses, frames, sunglasses, reading glasses, finished eyeglasses and many low vision devices. VMAIL reported on the lists and the products they included here.

Under the exclusion procedures, those impacted by additional duties on goods originating in China pursuant to List 4A can petition to have your products excluded from these duties. This exclusion process pertains only to goods covered by tariff numbers on List 4A, The Vision Council noted.

The Vision Council will be reviewing these procedures over the coming days and will provide additional guidance on how best to approach the process. The association also noted that questions or concerns about this issue can be directed to Rick Van Arnam, The Vision Council’s regulatory affairs counsel, at rvanarnam@barnesrichardson.com.

USTR originally announced in early that it would institute additional tariffs of 10 percent on approximately $250 billion of imports from China identified on List 4A, but on Aug. 26 announced that the tariff rate would increase to 15 percent due to ongoing tensions and forestalled trade negotiations.