Dear Ambassador Lighthizer, Thank you for the opportunity to submit a request for the exclusion of particular products subject

to tariffs under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. Top Polymer Assets, LLC respectfully

submits this Request to seek exclusion of certain plastic-pellet extrusion line machines being

imported from China (the “machines”). These machines are not related to the “Made in China

2025” initiative, nor do they represent any intellectual property interests that are the result of any

undue “acts, policies, or practices” as identified by this office in March of 2018. The importation of these machines is important to achieve broader U.S. industrial interests. A

25% tariff on the cost of these products puts these interests at risk. I. Introduction

Top Polymer is the affiliate of a leading producer of thermoplastic elastomer compounds, Top

Polymer Enterprise Ltd. Top Polymer Assets will be the importer of record for the machines

subject to this Request. Top Polymer is a Chinese company seeking to expand its growing export base to its North

American clientele. These customers will include U.S. manufacturers of consumer, automotive, electronic, packaging, and medical products. As part of this endeavor, Top Polymer Enterprise Ltd’s parent company, Please Sky Holding

Limited, is investing $15 million to build a state of the art production facility in Social Circle, Georgia (just outside of Atlanta). The centerpiece of this 60,000 square-foot facility will be three

compounding production lines capable of producing up to 16 million pounds of product every

year (as Phase I). This facility will have up to 70 staff in high-paying, technical jobs. The location of the facility in

the United States will also allow for more specialized, high-end applications to be produced

domestically, rather than in China. Ultimately, the facility seeks to produce $10 million worth of

product in three years. In fact, the governor of Georgia, Nathan Deal, heralded Top Polymer’s move to Social Circle, stating:

Georgia’s manufacturing sector continues to drive statewide investment by

attracting industry leaders from around the world,” said Deal. “As the No. 1 state

for business, Georgia has the highly skilled workforce, logistics infrastructure and

low cost of doing business necessary to provide a strong foundation for Top

Polymer’s continued growth. These resources will strengthen the company’s

competitive edge in the global market as Top Polymer expands both in the U.S. and abroad. We look forward to this partnership with Top Polymer as the
company invests in Social Circle and creates employment opportunities for our

citizens.1

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II. The 25% tariff would cause severe economic harm

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III. These products are not related to the Made in China 2025 policy or China’s

industrial policies

The importation of these machines to the United States from China is antithetical to the “Made in

China 2025” policy. The lines are designed to produce compounds inside the United States, relying on Chinese technology developed without U.S. intellectual property. The strategy for

locating these machines in Georgia is designed to decentralize Chinese production to provide

just-in-time delivery to our U.S. and North American manufacturing clientele. At most, the Made

in China 2025 policy instead seeks to consolidate these industrial processes inside China. Top Polymer’s capital investment in Georgia instead allows the U.S. to consolidate supply

chains in North America. Being able to quickly facilitate client needs creates more synergy

among U.S. supply chains, reducing the need for our automotive, electronics, packaging, consumer, and medical product manufacturing customers to look overseas for suppliers. This

facility will also lead to a direct reduction in Chinese exports to the United States, and increase

the United States’ trade balances with other countries. As we understand it, the Made in China 2025 policy seeks to promote the growth of these

industries: (1) steel and nonferrous metals, (2) construction materials, (3) rail equipment, (4)

power generation and infrastructure, (5) resource development, (6) textiles, (7) new energy

vehicles, (8) information technology, (9) machinery, (10) aviation, and (11) shipbuilding. Unlike these growing industries, the machines which form the basis of this Request are mature in

their construction and design. And, as stated above, they are already utilized in China to produce

certain polymers. The importation of these machines is an opportunity to shift the production of

these compounds away from China, and toward the U.S. The compounds themselves are not relevant to the industrial objectives set by the Chinese

government, or the industries targeted by Made in China 2025. The polymers are used in

common consumer products, and are not used in high-tech vehicular or electronic technologies. These compounds are relatively low-tech in their applications, and are used for things like

packaging, tubing, window-sealant, etc. 1 “Deal: Manufacturer of thermoplastic elastomer to invest $15 million in Walton County,” Governor Nathan Deal, Press Release, Office of Communications, April 20, 2018.
Further, the compounds and the machines subject to this Request were not developed via any

malign “acts, policies, or practices” that were investigated and detailed in the investigation’s

Findings published on March 22, 2018. IV. These machines can only be sourced from China

These machines were constructed and assembled in China. The production of polymers requires

an exceptionally high level of precision, which makes these machines unique in their capabilities. In addition, these machines are calibrated and assembled together to form one entire line, requiring expertise and knowledge of our production processes not found anywhere outside of

China. The precision with which these machines are designed, engineered, validated, calibrated, and

assembled cannot be replicated elsewhere. Other extrusion lines do not have the custom

components needed to process our raw materials into finished, pelletized products. Finally, and most importantly, these machines are already made and purchased. It is not simply

not possible to design and purchase new machines from scratch, from elsewhere. V. These machines can be identified easily

The exclusion can be easily administered by the United States Customs and Border Protection

service (“USCBP”). The primary reason these products can be easily identified is because they

will be the only ones imported into the United States by Top Polymer in a one-time shipment

from China, and will be identified as such. In particular, the machines to be imported will be

assembled to create four complete extrusion lines. As such, the proper 10-digit HTSUS code is “8477.20.0035.” Recommended tariff language would be “Complete extrusion assembly line for

purposes of thermoplastic processing”

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More detailed pictures demonstrating each machine can be seen in Attachment A. We believe

that, given this information, USCBP will be able to identify this line when it enters into the

United States. We would be happy to provide more information needed to identify these

machines upon request. VI. Conclusion

Based on the foregoing, we believe these machines merit exclusion from the Section 301 tariffs

applied to products of Chinese origin, and respectfully request such treatment. This submission is a public version of a request submitted with Business Confidential

information. The undersigned further certifies that the information provided herein is complete

and correct to the best of his knowledge.
We would be happy to work with the USTR and/or USCBP to answer any questions or provide

any additional information. Should you require anything, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Respectfully Submitted, _______________________ Ralph Stone

Top Polymer Assets, LLC
Attachment A

Pictures of Machines for Identification

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