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
RESPONSE TO BLOCK 12

The Imposition of Additional Duties on Trio’s Products Disarms One of the United States’ 

Strongest Weapons to Confront Unfair Trade Activities

Trio Engineered Products, Inc. (“Trio”), headquartered in Irwindale, California, was originally a 

Chinese company. Its purchase by the Weir Group Ltd. Is emblematic of the ability of the 

dynamic and creative U.S. economy to attract the expatriation of Chinese technology and 

demonstrates one of the most effective ways that the United States can attack on the acts, 

policies, and practices that form the basis of the current Section 301 action. The imposition of 

additional duties on Trio products serves as a disincentive to the ability to weaponize U.S. free 

market forces in the fight against unfair Chinese trade practices. Furthermore, because Trio is a 

U.S. company that was originally formed in China, it is more integrated in China than many 

other companies, complicating the ability to relocate production operations to a new location.

Trio Equipment Produces The Raw Materials That, Quite Literally, Forms The Foundation 

Of The U.S. Economy.

Trio manufactures the large industrial machines that are required to process rock into 

aggregates and into forms that allow for the extraction of valuable minerals. In other words, Trio 

machines are used to create the raw materials that form the basis of almost all U.S. economic 

activity. The rock that is processed by Trio machines forms the concrete that is used to 

construct the nation’s highways and buildings, the iron ore that is used to produce steel, and the 

minerals that are used to produce fertilizers, chemicals, and other commercial and consumer 

products.

The products that are the subject of this exclusion request constitute the parts that make up the 

processing operations of hard rock mining facilities. While these devices are sold as standalone 

machines, they form the component parts of highly engineered and sophisticated rock 

processing facilities. The availability of cost-effective Trio products supports the jobs required to 

engineer, design, develop, and operate these facilities. Additionally, while the purchase of rock 

crushers, screeners, and washing equipment involves significant capital expenditures, the 

processing of hard rock is abusive. These machines wear quickly and require frequent 

replacement or servicing. Thus, these imported components support ongoing employment by 

service personnel, as well as the heavy machinery that is required to replace machines of the 

scale of Trio rock crushers, screeners, and washing equipment. 

The Trio Product Included in this Exclusion Request Include Unique Safety Features 

Since Weir’s acquisition of Trio, the company has innovated, developing technology that is 

owned and controlled by the U.S. and focused on benefiting the U.S. worker. Crushers, 

Washers, and Screening systems are big machines that process heavy and dangerous 

materials. Surface equipment, like Trio’s crushers, washers, and screens, that are used as part 

of mining operations create significant hazards for mine workers.1 The Trio products that are the 

 

1 See Todd Ruff, Patrick Coleman, and Laura Martini, Machine-related injuries in the US mining industry 

and priorities for safety research, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Office of Mine 

Safety and Health Research, available at https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/mining/userfiles/works/pdfs/mriit.pdf

(last accessed October 9, 2018).
Contains Business Confidential Information

- 2 -

subject of this exclusion request are designed with a “kill switch” that permit the equipment to be 

rapidly shutdown should a safety incident occur.

2 No other products on the market have this 

specific feature. To impose tariffs on these products is tantamount to endangering the 

American worker by allowing inferior products without the same safety features to acquire more 

market share and become more prevalent. This is not the aim of the U.S. Trade 

Representative’s Section 301 Report and must not be permitted to occur.

Conclusion

Given the fact that Trio machines operate at the foundation of the U.S. economy, are used in 

sophisticated engineering projects, and require frequent maintenance or replacement, the 

consequences of the imposition of additional duties is felt broadly. The additional duties on 

Trio’s products add to the cost of raw materials in the United States and restrict highly paid 

employment opportunities. Furthermore, Trio has integrated important safety features into this 

product that are not available from other sources. The imposition of additional duties on these 

products threatens to reduce the availability of affordable, safety-oriented equipment. For the 

above reasons, Trio respectfully requests that this request for exclusion from the additional 

duties imposed pursuant to Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 be granted. 

 

2

[The “kill switch” is a new modification. The import data is based on shipments without a “kill switch”]. 
CERTIFICATION

I, Robert A. Shapiro, counsel to Trio Engineered Products, Inc. (“Company”), do hereby certify 

that disclosure of the information marked “BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL” in this “RESPONSE TO 

BLOCK 12” would endanger trade secrets or profitability of the Company, and that the 

information would not customarily be released to the public.

October 9, 2018

_____________________________

Robert A. Shapiro, Esq.

on behalf of Trio Engineered Products, Inc.
Contains Business Confidential Information

- 4 -

6822024.5
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?
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).