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 product of concern:

4.

5. Requestor's relationship to the product:

CONTINUED BELOW

*

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/

1

7.

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.

VERSION 1

Requestor Information

Requestor Name (Last, First):
END 2

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

VERSION 1

11. Please provide information in support your request, taking account of the instructions

provided in Section B of the Federal Register notice (note: text entered below can extend

beyond the apparent size of this box).

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

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.

2016 Value:

2015 Value:

2017 Value:

2016 Quantity:

2015 Quantity:

2017 Quantity:
PUBLIC VERSION OF BCI DOCUMENT

Attachment 1 of 1

Response to Question 2:

The product included in this exemption request are recoil starter kits. Engines which are activated by a 

pull cord (lawn mower for example) use a recoil starter. These specific recoil starter kits are replacement 

parts sold as service kits. They are designed to replace recoil starters on engines produced by Kohler Co.

Response to Question 11:

Kohler is requesting an exclusion for the reasons stated below: 

A. The Subject Products Are Only Available from China

Products could be sourced outside of China, however the process to move all components to a new supply 

base would be extremely difficult, time consuming and expensive. The estimated cost to complete a 

transition of this complexity is roughly [REDACTED] largely driven by capital investment for new tooling 

and fixtures as well as product endurance testing and emission compliance testing. Additionally, OEM 

customers using Kohler engines in their products would also need to complete application testing driving 

additional cost to the OEM's and ultimately the end consumer. A complete transition to new sources 

would take [REDACTED] and cost upwards of [REDACTED]. While domestic sources and suppliers outside 

of China could eventually be located to produce the components under this HTS code, manufacturing 

capacity for certain components is limited, and other critical resources are in short supply. The Kohler 

Engines business as well as other US companies sourcing the same or similar parts impacted by this tariff 

would need to draw more qualified engineers from a labor pool that is already in a deficit condition. The 

qualification of new engine component suppliers is an engineering intensive undertaking. As structured 

today, Kohler does not have adequate engineering staff, testing and laboratory capacity to support a 

supply base transition of this magnitude. Implementing the plans mentioned above would result in either 

hiring additional headcount to lead these projects or removing resources from other development 

projects targeted at technological innovations which benefit US consumers. 

Redundant manufacturing would add product cost for both labor rates as well as material costs compared 

to our current offering. Splitting unit volume among multiple sources also undermines efficiencies driven 

by economies of scale, adds cost (primarily additional transportation) and complexity in supply chain 

management. 

B. Failure to Exclude the Products Will Result in Severe Economic Harms

In addition to the tariff duty itself, sourcing parts from a supply base outside of China would require 

significant capital investment for new tooling and fixtures as well as extensive and costly testing. Moving 

all components out of China could cost upwards of [REDACTED] and take at least [REDACTED] to complete. 

In addition to the transition costs, new sources are unlikely to provide the same components at or below 

current prices even if adjusted to include tariff duty. In either case, the imposition of additional duties on 

Products will cause severe economic harm to Kohler and other U.S. interests, including our customers. 

Kohler would be forced to pass the additional costs of these tariffs on to U.S. consumers. 

Kohler reinvests an average of at least 90 percent of its earnings back into its operations annually. The 

costs Kohler will incur from the additional tariffs and lost sales resulting from passing through these added 

costs to U.S. consumers are real dollars that will no longer be reinvested in our company's future and 

associates here in the U.S. 
PUBLIC VERSION OF BCI DOCUMENT

C. The Products are Not Strategically Important or Related to “Made in China 2025” or Other Chinese 

Industrial Programs

The Products for which Kohler seeks an exclusion are not strategically important to “Made in China 2025” 

or other Chinese industrial programs, to the best of our knowledge. “Made in China 2025” highlights coal 

power generation, hydropower generation, nuclear power generation and heavy gas turbines, new energy 

and renewable resources, advanced energy storage devices, intelligent power grid systems, and 

breakthroughs in the manufacturing and application of key components and materials like high-power 

electrical components and high temperature super conductors.

D. The Requested Exclusion is Easily Administered

The requested exclusion is easily administered because our commercial documents and product labels 

will identify a part number, description, and quantity. We are also implementing a label with the HTS code 

and explanation to our product.

E. Kohler Co. Supports American Manufacturing

Kohler is a global company founded in 1873 and remains one of America's oldest and largest privately 

held companies. Our manufacturing footprint in the United States is extensive, with factories in 13 

locations supporting its kitchen and bath, decorative and power businesses and employing over 12,000 

people in the United States. One of Kohler's guiding principles is to reinvest an average of at least 90 

percent of its earnings back into its operations annually, which aids in supporting employment in the 

United States. 

In addition, Kohler supports thousands of U.S.-based vendors each year. In 2017, Kohler provided 

approximately $2.6 billion of direct economic impact through the purchase of goods and services from 

more than 12,400 unique U.S.-based vendors.

Thank you for your consideration.