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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 product of concern:

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

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VERSION 1

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8. Is this product, or a comparable product, available from sources in the United States?:

VERSION 1

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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

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Brian Duda

Duda Energy LLC and DudaDiesel LLC

1112 Brooks St, 

Decatur, AL 35601

PH: (256)340-4866 FX: (866)548-3412

PUBLIC VERSION

October 9, 2018

Ambassador Lighthizer

Office of the United States Trade Representative

600 17th Street, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20508

RE: Duda Energy

REQUEST FOR EXCLUSION OF 7.5”x 2.9” STAINLESS STEEL COPPER BRAZED 

PLATE HEAT EXCHANGERS (USHTS# 8419.50.5000) FROM THE DETERMINATION 

OF ACTION PURSUANT TO SECTION 301: CHINA’S ACTS, POLICIES, AND 

PRACTICES RELATED TO TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, 

AND INNOVATION

DOCKET NO. USTR-2018-0025

Dear Ambassador Lighthizer:

Duda Energy LLC is submitting these written comments in response to Docket No. USTR2018-0025, pursuant to your 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. 1 Specifically, Duda Energy requests that the following product be excluded 

from the 25% ad valorem duty:

Product Name HTS Number (10-digit) Proposed Product Description

 

1 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. 32,181 (USTR July 11, 2018) (“Procedures to Request Product

Exclusions”).
Ambassador Lighthizer

Office of the United States Trade Representative

October 9, 2018

Page 2 of 8

PLATE HEAT EXCHANGERS 8419.50.5000 Stainless steel copper brazed 

plate heat exchangers’ unit with 

fittings, each plate measuring 

7.5” x 2.9”, provided for in 

subheading 8419.50.5000

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Duda Energy appreciates this opportunity to submit a request to exclude certain plate heat 

exchangers units from the list of products subject to a 25% tariff when imported from China. The 

plate heat exchangers are components used in wood burning furnaces, radiant floor systems, 

refrigerant systems, straight vegetable oil conversions, beer chilling, air conditioning system and 

solar water heating systems, many of which are manufactured in the U.S. The plate heat exchangers 

may be brazed with either nickel or copper. When brazed, with nickel, approximately 75% of the 

component’s value is U.S. nickel. In addition, these components are a very basic technology and 

do not contain “industrially significant technology, including those related to the ‘Made in China 

2025’ program”.2 Furthermore, there are no readily available alternative sourcing options either in 

the U.S. or globally. 

Because these parts are used for additional manufacturing in the U.S., may use U.S. nickel,

do not contain high-end technology, and are not available to be sourced from another country they 

should be excluded from the 25% tariff. If the tariff is not promptly removed, small companies 

such as Duda Energy will be forced to increase prices, thus increasing costs for consumers and 

decreasing demand, which will likely result in lower sales and higher employment in the U.S. We 

urge the administration to remove plates heat exchangers from the 25%, List 1 tariff list.

COMPANY OVERVIEW

Duda Energy is headquartered in Decatur, Alabama. The company employs 22 people.

Duda Energy is a small online business store dedicated to all alternative energy supplies for do-it-

 

2

See Statement on Steps to Protect Domestic Technology and Intellectual Property from China’s Discriminatory 

and Burdensome Trade Practices. May 29, 2019. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/statementsteps-protect-domestic-technology-intellectual-property-chinas-discriminatory-burdensome-trade-practices/
Ambassador Lighthizer

Office of the United States Trade Representative

October 9, 2018

Page 3 of 8

yourselfers and other small businesses. Duda Energy offers many supplies for SVO, biodiesel, 

solar water heater technology and will soon also push for solar electrical cells (PV cells), wind 

power, geothermal systems and energy efficient devices such as LED lights and systems which 

recycle heat.

Duda Energy has become one of the largest suppliers of plate heat exchangers in the U.S. 

The company supplies this product for many distributors, domestically and overseas. Through 

supplying plate heat exchangers for the general public, Duda Energy has given a huge boost to the 

birth of the beer micro-brewing market, which has been a huge trend for the last ten years and has 

become a large part of the U.S. economy. 

ABOUT THE PRODUCT, PROPOSED LANGUAGE AND ENFORCEMENT

Plate heat exchangers are popular in wood burning furnaces, radiant floor systems, 

refrigerant systems, straight vegetable oil conversions, air conditioning system, solar water heating 

systems and beer chilling. In micro-brewing, for example, once the wort boils it must be cooled 

down quickly to lower the risk of bacterial or yeast contamination, as well as decrease unwanted 

aromas or colors in the beer. Plate heat exchangers achieve the fast cooling needed by running the 

hot wort and cool water through the plates system, which brings down the wort temperatures from 

200F to 60-80F in just seconds. 

Plate heat exchangers will work for any application in which the desired result is for two 

fluids (liquid or gas) to exchange heat. The units use metal plates to transfer heat. Heat transfer 

occurs when there is a difference in temperature between two mediums. Heat will travel from the 

hot source to the cold source. The rate at which the heat transfer occurs at is determined by many 

factors such as the heat conductivity of the two materials and the difference in temperatures of the 

two mediums. Plate heat exchangers have significantly good heat transfer rates because they use 

metal plates which have high heat conductivity rates and the plates are extremely thin. The plate 

heat exchangers also achieve high amounts of heat transfer through convective forces with both 

working fluids. Convective heat transfer occurs when the materials are moving against each other.

With large temperature differentials, great amounts of heat transfer can be achieved using a plate 

heat exchanger.
Ambassador Lighthizer

Office of the United States Trade Representative

October 9, 2018

Page 4 of 8

Plate hate exchangers have built-in fittings and channels to allow fluid to pass through 

them. As Figure 1 illustrates, Fluid A (represented by red arrows) passes from the port on the left 

of the heat exchanger through every other channel created by the plates to the opposite end port 

on the left of the heat exchanger (looking at it the long way). Fluid B (represented by the blue 

arrows) passes from the port on the right through the other channels created by the plates and 

comes out the other port on the right side. Although the fluids do not mix, the fluids are essentially 

touching each other through the plates and heat is transferred from the hot fluid to the cold fluid.

Plates on a heat exchanger adds some extra heat transfer, but they are intended to reduce pressure 

drop.

Figure 1 – Illustration- Liquid Temperature Exchange Transfer

The plate heat exchangers come in different sizes. More heat exchanger length means much 

higher efficiency. The longer the better. More width on a heat exchanger allows for much less

pressure drop. The brazing is either copper or nickel. Brazing is a type of welding and the materials 

is what holds the plates together. Nickel is used in applications where copper would react with the 

working fluid and cause problems or possibly corrode rapidly. Nickel is also a nobler element so 

it is more corrosion resistant. Approximately 75% of the total import value of the plate heat 

exchangers’ is U.S. nickel when nickel is used for the brazing. 

Although it would be preferable if the administration would approve a request that included 

stainless steel copper or nickel brazed plate heat exchangers units of all sizes, we provide this 

separate petition for plates measuring 7.5" x 2.9"in order to follow USTR’s instructions to provide 
Ambassador Lighthizer

Office of the United States Trade Representative

October 9, 2018

Page 5 of 8

distinct characteristics such as product dimensions. Duda Energy proposes the following language 

to describe the product referenced in this petition.

1. Stainless steel copper brazed plate heat exchangers’ unit with fittings, each plate 

measuring 7.5” x 2.9”, provided for in subheading 8419.50.5000

Plate heat exchangers are imported under U.S. Harmonized Tariff Schedule code 

8419.50.5000. Chapter 84 of the USHTS describes in part “...machinery and mechanical

appliances; parts thereof...” Heading 8419 describes “Machinery, plant or laboratory equipment...

for the treatment of materials by a process involving a change of temperature...; instantaneous or 

storage water heaters, nonelectric; parts thereof:” Subheading 8419.50 describes “Heat exchange 

units:” Subheading 8419.50.50 makes reference to “Other”. There is no further ten-digit statistical 

breakdown, thus the ending two digit code is “00”. 

Enforcement of this exclusion request may be done by a quick visual examination of the 

imported merchandise. U.S. Customs and Border Protection can easily enforce the provision due 

to the proper classification of the product at a 10-digit level and based on the proposed written 

description of the merchandise. A CBP official may corroborate the size of the plates by inspecting 

the merchandise labels or measuring the plates’ dimensions. 

ANNUAL IMPORT VALUES

Table 1 below shows the import value and quantities of 7.5” x 2.9” copper brazed plate 

heat exchangers imported from 2015-2017. 

Table 1 – 7.5”x 2.9” STAINLESS STEEL COPPER BRAZED PLATES 2015-2017

2015 2016 2017

Product Import 

Quantity Import Value Import Quantity Import Value Import Quantity

Import 

Value

7.5”x 2.9” 

STAINLESS 

STEEL 

COPPER 

[***] [***] [***] [***] [***] [***]

PUBLIC VERSION
Ambassador Lighthizer

Office of the United States Trade Representative

October 9, 2018

Page 6 of 8

BRAZED 

PLATES

RATIONALE FOR EXCLUSION

The plate heat exchangers described in this petition do not contain “industrially significant 

technology, including those related to the ‘Made in China 2025’ program”.

3 The Made in China 

2025 key sectors are: 1) Next-generation information technology; 2) High-end numerical control 

machinery and robotics; 3) Aerospace and aviation equipment; 4) Maritime engineering equipment 

and high-tech maritime vessel manufacturing; 5) Advanced rail equipment; 6) Energy –saving and 

new energy vehicles; 7) Electrical equipment; 8) Agricultural equipment; 9) New materials; and 

10) Biomedicine and high-performance medical devices.4In contrast, the plates referenced in this 

petition are very basic products: a metal cut into a plate of certain dimension and then brazed with 

other similar plates. Nothing in the manufacturing or use of this product can be adequately said to 

be high-technology of interest to the Chinese government. 

Furthermore, Duda Energy is a small online company and does not have readily available 

options in another country to manufacture the products that are under the scope of this and similar 

petitions being submitted to the administration. Because we are a small company, the tariff will 

end up significantly affecting our U.S. business and consumers. Upon consideration that this 

product does not contain high-end technology and that it is of not in the long-term interest of the 

Chinese government industrial development policies, the U.S. government should remove the 

tariff and avoid the economic damage that the tariffs is doing to businesses and consumers in the 

country. 

1. No impact on Chinese government to obtain the elimination of its acts, policies and 

practices

 

3

Id. 

4

See https://www.uschamber.com/sites/default/files/final_made_in_china_2025_report_full.pdf. 
Ambassador Lighthizer

Office of the United States Trade Representative

October 9, 2018

Page 7 of 8

The U.S. administration determined to apply a 25% tariff on those industries that China 

could use to achieve its 2025 goals of global dominance in high-technology sector. However, 

Duda Energy heat exchange plates do not relate in any possible way to any of China’s target 

industries. The metal plates are not cutting edge technology and they are used for basic systems 

and applications such as burning furnaces, radiant floor systems, refrigerant systems, straight 

vegetable oil conversions, air conditioning system, solar water heating systems and beer chilling.

Whatever technology is used to manufacture those products is generally available. Thus, the 

imposition of these tariffs does not in any way influences or brings about the elimination of China’s 

acts, policies and practices that threaten U.S. intellectual property or trade secrets. Simply put, the 

Chinese government is not interested in plate heat exchangers as technology products. 

2. No Other Sourcing Options 

The exact models sold by Duda Energy are not available from other foreign manufacturers.

There is another U.S. supplier of plate heat exchangers, but they are unable to produce the models 

and sizes that our customers demand. Duda Energy models have been created based on the 

company’s own research and development. In addition, the other U.S. supplier is focused on larger 

plates that do not work for small applications. Furthermore, many of their plates are manufactured 

in Germany and their lead time tends to be longer than ours. The Germany manufacturer sells to 

our competitor supplier and as mentioned does not manufacture the same sizes as we sell. Duda 

Energy is a small company and we do not know of any other alternative sourcing for this product 

at the moment. 

3. Negative Impact on U.S. Companies and Consumers

The imposition of the 25% tariffs on these plate heat exchangers does little to Chinese 

interest and instead causes economic harm to the U.S.’ economic interests. Duda Energy is a small 

company and these plates constitute a significant portion of our company’s sales. Duda Energy

will not be able to absorb the 25% additional cost much longer and eventually our customers will 

see the cost of the tariff passed down to them. This may result in a much lower demand for our 

products and affect our company’s profits, thus also risking our employees’ jobs and our potential 
Ambassador Lighthizer

Office of the United States Trade Representative

October 9, 2018

Page 8 of 8

for growth. Especially in the beer market, we are the cheaper option compared to other chiller 

systems. The other chiller systems do not work as well, but ultimately home brewers are likely to 

use the inferior product to save costs. Costs of manufacturing will also increase for other systems 

made in the U.S. that require the use of plates heat exchangers for their production. Furthermore, 

as mentioned before, up to 75% of the total import value of the plate heat exchangers’ is U.S. 

nickel when nickel is used for the brazing.

CONCLUSION

We appreciate the administration’s willingness to review comments regarding products 

affected by the 25% tariff. We respectfully ask the U.S. government to exclude plate heat 

exchangers from the current list of items subject to the additional 25% tariffs if imported from 

China. These parts are used for additional manufacturing in the U.S., may use U.S. nickel, do not 

contain high-end technology, and are not available to be sourced from another country. Therefore, 

they should be excluded from the 25% tariff. 

If the tariff is not promptly removed, small companies such as Duda Energy will be forced 

to increase prices, thus increasing costs for consumers and decreasing demand. This will result in 

decreased sales and profits, thus risking present and future jobs in our company. We urge the 

administration to remove plate heat exchangers from the 25%, List 1 tariff list.

The submitter certifies that the information provided is complete and correct to the best of 

his knowledge.

Sincerely,