Organization Name:

Note: Representatives submitting on behalf of an organization must enter information below.

Requestor Representative:

Section 301 Investigation: China's Acts, Policies, and Practices Related to Technology 

Transfer, Intellectual Property, and Innovation - Form to Request Exclusion of Product

When submitting a product exclusion request using this form, enter the specified 

information in the following fields and explain the basis and rationale for your statements. 

By completing this form, you certify that the information provided is complete and 

correct to the best of your knowledge. 

1. Indicate whether the comment contains business confidential information (BCI), is a public

document, or is a public version of a BCI document.

3.

2. Please provide a complete and detailed description of the particular product of concern:

4.

*

10-digit HTSUS item number* for product you wish to address in this product exclusion request:

Use numerical characters only with no special characters (example: 1023456789). For help in finding

the HTSUS item number associated with your product, see https://hts.usitc.gov/

7.

5. Requestor's relationship to the product:

6. Does this submission in regulations.gov include additional attachments?

Please indicate whether any additional attachment contains business confidential information 

(BCI), is a public document, or is a public version of a BCI document.

Requestor Information

Requestor Name (Last, First):

VERSION 2 CONTINUED BELOW 1

Public Version
8. Is this product, or a comparable product, available from sources in the United States? (If you

9. Is this product, or a comparable product, available from sources in third countries? (If you

10. Please provide the value and quantity (with units) of the Chinese-origin product of concern

that you purchased for each calendar year specified. Limit this figure to the products

purchased by your firm (or by members of your trade association) alone. Please provide

estimates if precise figures are unavailable.

2017 Value:

2016 Value:

2015 Value:

2017 Quantity:

2016 Quantity:

2015 Quantity:

% of your total gross sales in 2017 that the Chinese-origin product accounted for.

% of the total cost of producing the final product(s) the Chinese-origin input 

accounts for.

% of your total gross sales in 2017 that sales of the final product(s) incorporating 

the input accounted for.

VERSION 2 CONTINUED BELOW 2

indicate "NO", you must provide support for your assertion in Box 12).

indicate "NO", you must provide support for your assertion in Box 12).

11. Is the Chinese-origin product of concern sold as a final product or an input used in

a) For imports sold as final products, please provide:

b) For imports of inputs used in the production of final products, please provide:

the production of a final product or products?

Public Version
12. Please provide information in support your request, taking account of the

VERSION 2 END 3

instructions provided in Section B of the Federal Register notice. If you

responded "NO" to Questions 8 or 9, you must provide support for your

assertion in the box below. (Note: text entered below can extend beyond the

apparent size of this box).

Public Version
 

 PUBLIC VERSION

 

 October 9, 2018 

The Honorable Robert E. Lighthizer 

United State Trade Representative

Office of the United States Trade Representative

600 17th Street NW 

Washington, DC 20508 

 

Re: Addendum to Request for Exclusion of Particular Products from the 

 Determination of Action Pursuant to Section 301

This letter is submitted by Hanway International LLC (“Hanway” or “the Company”) 

pursuant to the Procedures to Consider Requests for Exclusion of Particular Products from the 

Determination of Action Pursuant to Section 301 as set forth in docket number USTR-2018-0025-

0001. The information contained herein is an addendum to the individual product exclusion form, 

and is intended to address questions set forth in the procedures described above. For reference, 

this addendum pertains to certain parts that are used within forklifts. The products imported from 

China are classified under Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”)

subheading 8431.20.0000 as “Parts suitable for use solely or principally with the machinery of 

headings 8425 to 8430: Of machinery of heading 8427.” The following discussion addresses 

specific information that is requested in the Federal Register Notice published on July 11, 2018 

(83 Fed. Reg. 32181) concerning the three questions provided and responded to below. 

Consistent with USTR's procedures, we request confidential treatment for information 

designated as business confidential in this submission. Such information consists of information 

that would not customarily be released to the public, including business or trade secrets regarding 

production costs and processes, product characteristics, and other sale-related business secrets, and 

Public Version
the names of individuals or organizations that provided price, cost, and other market information. 

Business confidential information is indicated in the text below via single brackets ("[ ]"). Release 

of this information, including the identity of the submitter, would cause irreparable harm to the 

submitter. A public version of this Request is also being filed with all confidential information 

redacted.

The Products 

 The forklift parts that are the subject of this Request are installed within sub-parts of a 

forklift, including the multi-load handler, double wide handler, and fork positions. These products 

are made using alloy steel, ductile cast iron, and hot roll steel. Upon importation, the products are 

fitted into the forklifts. These forklifts are designed to maneuver narrow channels and operate on 

both smooth and uneven floors and can operate within very narrow spaces. Equipped with 

hydraulic steering, these forklifts provide exceptional control and makes load placement and 

retrieval superior to other forklifts. The subject products are essential parts of these forklifts, and 

therefore, essential parts of American businesses. 

Upon importation, these parts are sold to domestic equipment manufacturers who use the 

products to create forklifts used by American businesses. The forklifts are used in warehouses, 

factories, as well as wholesale, department, and grocery stores, and are an essential component of 

the supply chain system in the United States. With these forklifts, American businesses operate 

more efficiently, and provide more access to the American consumer for the products they need in 

their daily lives. The parts that are the subject of this Request are:

• Parts that move forks in positioners; 

• Parts that are used as mounting hooks in multi-load handlers; 

• Parts in the carriage of a double-wide side shifter; and

• Frame parts in a k fork positioner. 

Public Version
I. Whether the particular product is available only from China? 

Hanway’s forklift parts can only feasibly be supplied in the capacity and quality needed 

from China. China is the only country that already has the manufacturing plants, raw materials, 

and labor resources to sufficiently supply the Company’s valuable needs. Transferring production 

to another country would cost the Company time and resources it does not have. 

The company has spent many years cultivating its global sourcing to meet the demand and 

exponential growth. Currently, the subject products can only be produced by Chinese 

manufacturers at the capacity and pricing that the company needs. 

The Company does not know any manufacturer outside China that is currently able to 

produce these parts at the capacity and quantity needed. While possible, it would likely take a 

significant amount of time (e.g., several years) for any party to attempt to develop a factory outside 

China that would be able to suitably supply to the Company’s needs for the subject parts. Even 

then, the new manufacturer would have to go through the thorough product testing process that 

Hanway demands of its suppliers. 

Similarly, there are no domestic manufacturers that make these parts. It would take an 

active approach for a manufacturer to attempt start producing these parts domestically. However, 

this is unlikely as such a project would be curtailed due to cost, labor, and regulatory issues. 

Public Version
We believe that it would be cost prohibitive for a domestic manufacturer to attempt to start 

manufacturing these parts in order to supply the Company at its needs. These costs would include 

significant amounts of money spent on tooling and equipment in the factories. Further, the United 

States suffers from a lack of labor resources as finding employees willing to work in the harsh 

conditions of such manufacturing facilities is becoming more and more difficult. Attempting to 

build a factory to manufacture these parts will also require the manufacturer to surmount the 

increased requirements that various ordinances and the Environmental Protection Agency and 

other regulatory agencies place on these producers. Even if a domestic manufacturer were to 

overcome all of the cumbersome burdens identified above, it would likely take several years for 

the domestic supplier to adequately be able to supply Hanway. 

For these reasons, there is currently no way for the Company to source the subject parts 

from outside China, whether it be from a third country or the United States, at the capacity needed. 

The imposition of an additional 25 percent tariff on these products will be debilitating to the 

Company. As such, we urge USTR to grant Hanway the Section 301 exclusion requested herein. 

II. Whether the imposition of additional duties on the particular product would cause 

severe economic harm to the requestor or other U.S. interests? 

Not only would the additional 25 percent tariff imposed on the Company for the subject 

parts significantly disrupt Hanway’s business, but it would have a devastating impact on domestic 

businesses that utilize forklifts every day, and ultimately the American consumer. First, Hanway 

does not have the ability to withstand the additional tariffs for the subject products. As it is, the 

Company’s profits on these products are razor thin. Therefore, the Company would not be able to 

absorb the full amount of the additional tariffs. As such, it would have to pass on some or all of 

the additional tariffs to Hanway’s customers. 

Public Version
Hanway’s customers, to whom the subject products are sold, manufacture forklifts used in 

countless American businesses. These businesses use the forklifts to move products from pallets, 

boxes, and other items up to a weight of 3,000 lbs. These forklifts are used to move a variety of 

products that Americans buy and consume every day, and as such is vital to the supply chain of 

everyday items. This, in turn, reduces the cost of goods on the consumer. Without these forklifts, 

and the component parts of the forklifts, like the wheels and levers, the American consumer would 

end up paying higher prices for the everyday goods they buy. Additional tariffs on the subject 

products would have the unintentional consequence of hurting American businesses and the 

consumers who buy products moved by those businesses every day. 

The extraordinary penalties the Company faces from these additional tariffs, and the 

inability to obtain these products elsewhere will impact the Company, American businesses, and 

American consumers in a significantly detrimental way. As such, we urge USTR to grant Hanway 

an exclusion from the Section 301 additional tariffs requested herein. 

III. Whether the particular product is strategically important or related to “Made in 

China 2025” or other Chinese industrial programs? 

The subject parts Hanway imports are not included as part of China’s “Made in China 

2025” initiative. While the “Made in China 2025” initiative targets machinery and equipment that 

are part of advanced technology manufacturing industries, it targets those machinery and 

equipment that are part of advanced technology manufacturing industries. The subject products 

are not advanced technology. 

The subject products have been manufactured by Hanway’s suppliers in China for many 

years and the technology used to create these parts has not changed in quite some time. The main 

focus of the “Made in China 2025” initiative, with respect to industrial applications, relates to 

Public Version
innovative, breakthrough technologies in the areas of green manufacturing or high-end 

development, not the mature technology at issue in this request. 

Further, Hanway is not subject to any foreign ownership or equity restrictions. There is no 

issue with Chinese policies forcing Hanway to license technologies to Chinese entities. The 

Company licenses no technology to any entity in China. The Company also knows of no attempt 

by any Chinese entities to unfairly facilitate the systematic investment in, and acquisition of 

Hanway in order to obtain any sort of cutting-edge technological advantages. Hanway has not 

witnessed any theft of its intellectual property by China. 

For these reasons, the subject imports are not strategically important or related to China’s 

“Made in China 2025” initiative or other Chinese industrial programs. As such, we urge USTR to 

grant Hanway the exclusion requested herein.

Public Version