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Docket No. USTR-2018-0025

______________________________________________________________________________

REQUEST FOR EXCLUSION OF ACCESSORIES FOR PORTABLE ROLLER 

AND CUTTING MACHINES FROM THE ADDITIONAL DUTIES IMPOSED 

UNDER SECTION 301 OF THE TRADE ACT OF 1974

______________________________________

FILED BY ELLISON EDUCATIONAL EQUIPMENT, INC.

______________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

On behalf of Ellison Educational Equipment, Inc. (“Ellison Educational”), we appreciate 

the opportunity provided by the U.S. Trade Representative (“Trade Representative”) to request 

the exclusion of specific products from the additional duties imposed under section 301 of the 

Trade Act of 1974.1

 Ellison Educational is widely recognized as the market pioneer and leader 

of portable roller and cutting machines for use by educators in the classroom, as well as do-ityourself (“DIY”) hobbyists and arts-and-crafters. Portable roller and cutting machines rely on 

dies to cut, etch, and/or emboss materials such as paper, cardstock, foil, felt, or fabric in small, 

non-commercial quantities to create homemade invitations and greeting cards, bulletin board 

decorations, classroom manipulatives, quilts, and other such projects. To guide the materials 

through the dies, the portable roller and cutting machines rely on specially designed accessories, 

referred to as pads, trays, or plates.

 1 See Procedures to Consider Requests for Exclusion of Particular Products from the 

Determination of Action Pursuant to Section 301: China’s Acts, Policies, and Practices Related 

to Technology Transfer, Intellectual Property, and Innovation, 83 Fed. Reg. 32181, 32182 

(Jul. 11, 2018).
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As explained below, the imposition of 25 percent duties on these accessories is severely 

harming the business of Ellison Educational and [ ] U.S. jobs. 

When used for their only purpose in conjunction with educational and craft equipment, these 

accessories are neither “strategically important” nor in any way related to the “Made in China 

2025” program. They are, however, important to American teachers, hobbyists, and arts-andcrafters and Ellison Educational’s retail customers, designers, and bloggers. The accessories also 

are important to Ellison Educational’s sales of roller and cutting machines and dies because 

without them, the cardstock, fabric, or other such materials would not pass smoothly through the 

machine, and the dies would not perform the intended cutting, etching, or embossing functions. 

Accordingly, Ellison Educational respectfully requests the exclusion of the accessories for roller 

and cutting machines that it imports under U.S. Harmonized Tariff Schedule (“HTSUS”) 

statistical reporting number 8420.99.90.00 from the additional duties imposed under section 301 

of the Trade Act of 1974. Pursuant to 15 C.F.R. § 2006.15 and the scheduling notice,2 we 

request confidential treatment of the business confidential information (“BCI”) enclosed in 

brackets (“[ ]”) that customarily would not be released to the public. Disclosure of this BCI 

would endanger Ellison Educational’s profitability.

About Ellison Educational

As we have explained in prior submissions and in testimony before the Trade 

Representative, Ellison Educational is an American success story. The company was founded in 

1977 in a small two-bedroom apartment when an educator sought to solve the need to 

laboriously rely on scissors to cut out shapes, numbers, and letters for school projects and 

 2 83 Fed. Reg. at 32183-84.
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bulletin boards. Beginning with a first-ever, consumer hand-operated die-cutting machine

invented by a husband/wife team — the Ellison LetterMachineTM — this small, privately held 

company based in Lake Forest, California expanded its full product line to encompass almost 

three dozen patents.3 Its products have been popular in U.S. schools for more than 40 years, and 

its Sizzix brand is found in major and independent retailers in over 100 countries. 

[ ] product designers, engineers, and staff in 

Lake Forest, California employees, [ ] employees in its European headquarters in the United 

Kingdom and [ ] workers at its production facility, 

[ ].

Ellison Educational’s portable roller and cutting machines and related dies and 

accessories provide the tools for K-12 educators to make memorable bulletin boards and report 

covers as well as manipulatives, games, and flash cards that reinforce lesson plans. These 

products also help hobbyists and arts-and-crafters create a wide range of DIY projects such as 

custom cards, scrapbooks, invitations, party favors, quilts, home décor, and jewelry. Ellison 

Educational has received numerous accolades for its quality and product innovation and worked 

with well-known designers Tim Holtz®, Stephanie Barnard®, David TuteraTM, and many 

others.

4

 3 See Exhibit A.

4 Awards include Learning® Magazine’s Teacher’s ChoiceTM Award in 1997 for Excellence in 

Classroom Projects; Best Die-Cutting Equipment and/or Best Die-Cut Shapes Readers’ Choice 

Awards from Creating Keepsakes Magazine in 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003; Innovations Award from 

Hobby Industry Association in 2000; Association of Educational Publishers’ Distinguished 

Achievement Award in 2001; Instructor Seal of Approval from Instructor Magazine in 2003, 

National Stationary Show’s Best New Product Award in 2010; Bronze Stevie® Award in the 

Best New Product or Service of the Year – Consumer Products category in 2014; Silver Stevie®

Award in the Lifetime Achievement category in 2014; Bronze Stevie® Award in the Female 
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The Section 301 Remedies Now Cover Ellison Educational’s Entire Line of

Non-Commercial, Portable Roller and Cutting Machines, Dies, and Accessories

Effective July 6, 2018, the United States imposed additional duties of 25 percent on a 

number of products, including “Calendering or other rolling machines, other than for metals or 

glass, nesoi” imported under HTSUS 8420.10.90.5 At the eight-digit level, this tariff subheading 

includes a range of industrial equipment, such as thermosealing machines that companies use for 

plastic lamination or packaging. Below is an example of a Varicoater, which falls under this 

eight-digit HTSUS subheading:6

source: http://www.wuhtr.com/englisch/produkte/veredelung/varicoater.html

Unfortunately, this eight-digit HTSUS subheading captures both 10-digit subheading 

8240.10.9040 for industrial thermosealing machines like the Varicoater and the subheading 

 

Executive of the Year – Consumer Products category in 2014; Hot Product Award in the Paper 

Crafts category at the 2015 Craft and Hobby Association Mega Show; and the Modern Library 

Platinum Award from Library Works in 2015.

5 83 Fed. Reg. 28710, 28722 (June 20, 2018).

6 HQ Ruling 950948 (May 29, 1992) (stating that the Varicoater “employs sets of steel/rubber 

rolls or cylinders that apply adhesive to paper or plastic film substrates passing between them, 

followed by impression cylinders that apply a transparent film to the substrate, often utilizing 

heat”).
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under which Ellison Educational imports portable roller machines, 8240.10.9080, like the one 

pictured below:

Not only did the section 301 duties imposed since July 6, 2018 pertain to the roller machines, but 

they also apply to the dies and accessories imported under HTSUS statistical reporting number 

8420.9990 that are used with the roller and cutting machines.7

 Further compounding the burden 

on Ellison Educational, the United States just recently began imposing section 301 duties on 

Ellison Educational’s cutting machines as well.

8

 It is difficult to imagine that the Administration 

intended to target these portable, non-commercial roller and cutting machines and the dies and 

accessories that work with them that are used by American educators and arts-and-crafters. 

Rather, these products were unintended collateral damage, as the Administration sought to target 

 7 83 Fed. Reg. at 28722 (imposing 25 percent duties on dies and accessories that are imported 

under 8420.9990 as “Parts of calendaring or other rolling machines, other than for metals or 

glass, nesoi.”) Ellison Educational is submitting a separate, concurrent submission seeking a 

product exclusion for imports of the dies.

8 Effective September 24, 2018, the United States is imposing section 301 duties of 10 percent on 

cutting machines imported under HTSUS statistical reporting number 8441.1000, and these 

duties will be increased to 25 percent effective on January 1, 2019. 83 Fed. Reg. 47974, 48171 

(Sept. 21, 2018).
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commercial products used for industrial applications that happened to share the same eight-digit

HTSUS subheadings.

The Section 301 Duties Cause Severe Economic Harm to Ellison Educational Because The

Duties Apply to Its Entire Product Line, and It Lacks Other Feasible Sources of Supply

Subjecting small businesses like Ellison Educational to Section 301 duties causes severe 

economic harm because the duties apply to its entire product line, and it lacks other feasible 

sources of supply. Ellison Educational’s portable roller and cutting machines and the dies and 

accessories that are used with them are available only from China. Ellison Educational 

developed these proprietary products in the United States, and existing contractual agreements 

and sunk investments in its own vertically integrated manufacturing facility in China render it 

infeasible to manufacture or otherwise obtain these products elsewhere, at least in the medium 

term. Ellison Education is not aware of any company in the United States or outside of China

that produces these portable roller or cutting machines or the dies and accessories that are used 

with them. Moreover, we understand that all competitor products also are produced in China.9 

Since these products are not available from any non-Chinese sources, the 25 percent duty is an 

unavoidable cost for Ellison Educational. If this cost cannot be passed on to consumers, Ellison 

Educational will suffer unsustainable operating losses on the sale of its products. This 

[ ] of Ellison Educational’s Lake Forest, California employees who are 

involved in product design, engineering, sales, marketing, and customer service. The duties also 

will adversely impact Ellison’s retail customers, designers, and bloggers.

 9 Competitors and their products include Cricut’s Cuttlebug, Craftwell’s Ebosser, Crafters 

Companion Gemini, Tonic’s Tangerine, Accu-Quilt’s Go, Richard Garay’s Amaze, Nicole’s 

Love, Spellbinders’ Platinum, We ‘R Memory Keepers Evolution, and BossKut’s BossKut 

machines.
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Moreover, there is concern that consumers of portable roller and cutting machines and the 

dies and accessories that are utilized with them can ill afford to absorb a 25 percent price 

increase. Austere educational budgets mean that America’s educators already reach into their 

own pockets to purchase tools/equipment for their classrooms. Such a significant price increase 

could significantly alter their ability to expend personal funds for such a discretionary purchase. 

Likewise, hobbyists and arts-and-crafters are less likely to purchase these products, given 

demand elasticities in this market.

In the approximately three months since the duties were imposed, Ellison Educational has 

experienced the negative impact on its own operations and on its retail customers and educator 

and DIY crafter consumers. Exacerbating the severe economic harm on Ellison Educational, it 

has already expended resources and time to seek product exclusions for its roller machines and 

kits containing roller machines from the first round of section 301 duties, and through separate 

written submissions and in-person testimony, it argued against keeping its cutting machines and 

kits containing cutting machines on the third list of products targeted for section 301 duties. 

Consistent with Ellison Educational’s representations about the lack of domestic supply for these 

items, not a single firm submitted comments in either proceeding advocating in favor of duties 

on Ellison Educational’s roller machines and kits imported under HTSUS 8420.1090.80 or its 

cutting machines imported under HTSUS 8441.1000.00.

10 To date, there has been no ruling on 

Ellison Educational’s product exclusion requests for roller machines and kits,11 but the 

 10 See Ellison Educational’s submissions in docket USTR-2018-0025 and USTR-2018-0026 and 

August 23, 2018 Hearing Transcript in USTR-2018-0026 at 237-240.

11 See Document ID USTR-2018-0025-0547 and Document ID USTR-2018-0025-0560.
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Administration regrettably moved forward with duties on Ellison Educational’s cutting machines 

and kits effective September 24, 2018.12

These Products Are Not “Strategically Important” Nor Related to “Made in China 2025”

The portable roller and cutting machines and the dies and accessories that are used with 

them are neither “strategically important” nor related to the “Made in China 2025” program, so 

excluding them would not undermine the policy objective of the section 301 action. The report 

underlying the U.S. Trade Representative’s determination identified a series of acts, policies, and 

practices by the government of China that were related to technology transfer, intellectual 

property, and innovation.13 The purpose of these practices — and in particular the “Made in 

China 2025” program — were to assist specific industries and set explicit market share targets 

for Chinese producers.

14 The report does not suggest that portable consumer devices used to 

assist educators and arts-and-crafters and the dies and accessories that go with them were a 

priority of “Made in China 2025.” To the contrary, these products are not strategically sensitive. 

Furthermore, Ellison Educational developed the technology that is used for these roller and 

cutting machines, dies, and accessories in the United States, so this is not a situation where its 

technology was appropriated by Chinese competitors. Ellison Educational utilizes its own 

 12 Effective September 24, 2018, the United States is imposing section 301 duties of 10 percent 

on cutting machines imported under HTSUS statistical reporting number 8441.1000, and these 

duties will be increased to 25 percent effective on January 1, 2019. 83 Fed. Reg. 47974, 48171 

(Sept. 21, 2018).

13 See Findings of the Investigation into China’s Acts, Policies, and Practices Related to 

Technology Transfer, Intellectual Property, and Innovation under Section 301 of the Trade Act 

of 1974 (Mar. 22, 2018) (“USTR’s Section 301 Report”).

14 See id. at 14-15.
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vertically integrated manufacturing facilities in China to manufacture its products, as noted 

earlier.

Moreover, while the importance of these accessories to educators, hobbyists, and 

arts-and-crafters is high, the combined value of such imports is trivial relative to the $34 billion 

of products intended to be covered by the initial section 301 action, the $16 billion of products 

intended to be covered by the additional action, and the $200 billion targeted by the more recent 

supplemental action.

15 The estimated quantity and value of the accessories that Ellison 

Educational imported from its Chinese affiliate in each of the last three years is identified below:

2015 2016 2017 H1-2018

# of Units [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]

Value $[ ] $[ ] $[ ] $[ ]

Request for Relief

The record is clear that accessories for portable roller and cutting machines are a 

non-commercial product that was not the intended target of the section 301 action, but rather 

unintended collateral damage. Ellison Educational respectfully requests the exclusion of these 

products from the section 301 action because (1) there is no feasible alternate source in the 

medium term, (2) the additional 25 percent duty is causing significant economic harm to Ellison 

Educational and threatens the job security of its [ ] American workers, (3) educators, 

hobbyists, and arts-and-crafters cannot easily absorb the tax, and (4) these products are neither 

“strategically important” nor related to the “Made in China 2025” program.

 15 See, e.g., 83 Fed. Reg. at 28711, 28712 (initial and additional action); 83 Fed. Reg. 33608, 

33609 (Jul. 17, 2018).
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From an administrability perspective, the Trade Representative can most easily effectuate 

this request for relief by excluding from section 301 duties all imports under the 10-digit HTSUS 

subheading 8420.9990.00 (“Calendering or other rolling machines, other than for metals or glass, 

and cylinders therefor; parts thereof: other: other”). The total value of imports from China 

under this 10-digit subheading is minimal — i.e., less than $15 million per year16 — and such 

exclusion would not favor any particular company over another.

Alternatively, the Trade Representative could amend the section 301 action as follows:

The section 301 action excludes certain accessories (referred to as cutting pads, 

platforms, base plates, pads, shims, or trays) imported under HTSUS subheading 

8420.9990.00 that guide small batches of paper, cardstock, foil, fabric, or other 

materials through portable roller and cutter machines, provided that the accessories 

have a maximum width of 20 inches.

The proposed exclusion is intended to cover all such accessories imported under HTSUS 

subheading 8420.9990.00.

17 Here again, the proposed exclusion language is intended to be

 16 See USITC Dataweb (showing a customs value of $14.2 million landed duty paid for U.S. 

imports for consumption in 2017 for HTSUS subheading 8420.99.9000).

17 Ellison Educational accessories meeting this description include its polycarbonate plastic 

cutting pads, its platforms, precision base plates, Movers & ShapersTM shuttle, polyurethane 

plastic crease pads, impressions pad, silicone rubber and embossing pads, mylar shims, sliding 

trays, and eclips® cutting mats. As shown in the examples in Exhibit B, all of these accessories 

perform the same function, guiding small batches of paper, cardstock, foil, fabric, or other 

materials smoothly through portable roller and cutter machines so that the machines’ dies are able 

to perform the intended cutting, etching, or embossing functions. Note that Ellison Educational’s 

pads, platforms, and trays are compatible with many of its competitor’s roller machines, and its 

competitors’ accessories are often compatible with Ellison Educational’s roller machines.
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non-discriminatory, and benefit all competing companies equally. 

The information contained in this submission is complete and correct to the best of our 

knowledge. Thank you for your consideration of this request.

Respectfully,

 Richard Birse Reed Feist

 C.E.O. and Global Board Member Chief Financial Officer

September 9, 2018
Exhibit A

Patent Name Patent # App # File Date

Allstar Machine D534,932 29/237,734 1-Sep-05

Allstar Machine (Locking Knob 

Technology) 7856912 B2 11/220,284 7-Sep-05

Big Kick Machine (Redesign-2009) D607910 29/315,471 30-Jun-09

Big Kick Machine (Original) D542310 29/266983 2-Oct-06

Big Shot Express D585081 29/308,204 6-Jun-08

Big Shot Machine D508,701 29/230,857 8-Jun-04

Big Shot Machine D540374 29/230,857 27-May-05

Boskut Machine- Licensee 6945166B2 10/155,706 22-May-02

Boskut Machine- Licensee 7434508 11/198,624 5-Aug-05

Eclips Machine D656180 29/348,166 4-Dec-09

Eclips Machine Blade Holder D618715 29/348,163 4-Dec-09

Eclips Machine Cartridge D633,096 19/348,165 4-Dec-09

Eclips Machine Controller D638374 29/348,164 4-Dec-09

Original Sizzix Machine (2001) 339984

Original Sizzix Machine (2001) 7066083B2 10/664,011 3-Jul-02

Original Sizzix Machine (2001) 6619195 B2 10/190228 3-Jul-02

Original Sizzix Machine (2001) D472564 29/159,696 26-Apr-02

Original Sizzix Machine Handle Grip D468,187 29/159,748 26-Apr-02

RollModel Machine D587287 29/308,167 30-May-08
Patent Name Patent # App # File Date

Sidekick Machine D508701 29/207,183 8-Jun-04

Texture Boutique Machine D620044 28/315,094 27-May-09

Vagabond Machine D632,317 29/370,343 1-Jul-10

Sophisticut Machine D736,278 S 29/461,401 23-Jul-13

Cut 'n' Emboss; Embosslits 7104192 11/245,740 7-Oct-05

Framelits 9079325 13/533074 26-Jun-12

PaddlePunch D480737 29/169764 25-Oct-02

PaddlePunch D527423 29/174777 24-Jan-03

Pad-it Xpress D400914 59,200 5-Sep-96

Paper Trimmer Technology 8661953 12/157,129 9-Jun-08

Personal Embossing Plastic (PEP) 6007754 09/081,112 19-May-98

Simple Impressions; Easy Emboss 6994024B2 10/667,904 16-Sep-03

Technology for Moveable Carriage on 

a Die Press aka Benes Patent 6220136 08/938,586 26-Sep-97

Eclips Die Pick Tool D623,803 29/348,162 4-Dec-09

Magnetic Platform Pending 14/154,340 14-Jan-14

Eclips Spatula Tool D631307 29/348,162 4-Dec-09
EXHIBIT B