Organization Name:

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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.

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505 Sansome Street, Suite 1475, San Francisco, CA 94111 USA • www.strtrade.com 

CHICAGO • GUANGZHOU • HONG KONG • MIAMI • NEW YORK • PAWLING, NY • SAN FRANCISCO • SHANGHAI • WASHINGTON D.C.

Elise Shibles

Partner

(415) 986-1088

eshibles@strtrade.com 

October 5, 2018 

Via Electronic Filing http://www.regulations.gov 

Ambassador Robert E. Lighthizer 

United States Trade Representative 

Office of the United States Trade Representative 

600 17th Street, NW 

Washington, DC 20508 

DOCKET USTR-2018-0025 

EXCLUSION REQUEST HTS 8421.29.0065, PALL CORPORATION

Dear Ambassador Lighthizer: 

On behalf of our client, Pall Corporation (Pall), we are submitting comments on proposed 

tariffs of 25 percent on certain China origin imports listed in Annex A of the Office of the 

United States Trade Representative Notice of Action and Request for Public Comment 

Concerning Proposed Determination of Action Pursuant to Section 301: China’s Acts, 

Policies, and Practices Related to Technology Transfer, Intellectual Property, and 

Innovation (83 Fed. Reg. 28710, June 20, 2018). 

We are asking for exclusion of polymer filtration systems, classified under Harmonized 

Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS) 8421.29.0065, from the proposed duties. The 

full description of the articles proposed for exclusion is described in Annex 1 attached 

hereto. 

Description of HTS 8421.29.00 (8-digit) 

HTS 8421.29.00 is a basket provision in the HTS covering parts not more specifically 

described elsewhere of filtering or purifying machinery and apparatus for liquids or gases. 

PUBLIC VERSION 
United States Trade Representative 

October 5, 2018 

Page 2 of 5

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CHICAGO • GUANGZHOU • HONG KONG • MIAMI • NEW YORK • PAWLING, NY • SAN FRANCISCO • SHANGHAI • WASHINGTON D.C.

Pall Corporation seeks exclusion for a much narrower type of parts within this HTS code, 

described in detail in Annex 1. These are generally polymer filtration systems, a filter 

system of steel housings and valves, and sintered metal cylindrical filters, for separating 

solid contaminants from liquid chemical polymers. These systems are designed to fit into 

an industrial production line to improve polymer product quality and production 

efficiency. 

Relation to Eliminating China’s Policies 

The polymer filter systems that are the subject of this request are produced in a Pall 

Corporation wholly foreign-owned enterprise (WFOE). The report on the Section 301 

investigations recognized the WFOE as the business model least vulnerable to Chinese 

government coercion, including foreign technology transfer. To our knowledge, Pall 

Corporation’s WFOE in China has never experienced any threat to its intellectual property 

nor any pressure to transfer technology related to these filter systems. 

The polymer filter systems at issue are used in the United States in the advancement of 

cutting-edge science, but the technology to produce these polymer filter systems is not 

cutting-edge itself. It is widely-used metal casting and other basic fabricating technology. 

While it is heavily automated, it is not advanced. The technology required to produce 

these polymer filter systems is not identified in the Made in China 2025 initiative. It is not 

a leapfrog technology on which Chinese companies may make technological gains. 

Lack of US Production or Other Sourcing Options 

These goods are not produced in the USA in sufficient quantities to meet Pall’s needs. Pall 

Corporation currently sources from US suppliers, goods made by similar processes, but 

not the specific goods the subject of this request. In order to meet Pall’s needs, the US 

suppliers would need to expand their manufacturing footprint, including additional 

equipment and machinery and production and support staff. This expansion would likely 

take about [ ]1, due in part to the lengthy component and product qualification and 

validations for these types of sensitive scientific instruments and parts. A complete shift 

of capacity to US sources could take up to [ ]2. 

 

1 Business confidential information that would endanger trade secrets or profitability, and 

information that would not customarily be released to the public. 

2 Business confidential information that would endanger trade secrets or profitability, and 

information that would not customarily be released to the public. 
United States Trade Representative 

October 5, 2018 

Page 3 of 5

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CHICAGO • GUANGZHOU • HONG KONG • MIAMI • NEW YORK • PAWLING, NY • SAN FRANCISCO • SHANGHAI • WASHINGTON D.C.

It would be extremely burdensome to shift production to any other facility, regardless of 

geographic location, because of the extensive tooling and automation requirements for 

this type of production. The tools and components are subject to extensive qualifications 

and validations before production can begin. Shifting the majority of production to 

facilities outside of China, on the scale required by Pall Corporation, would take 

approximately [ ]3. This estimate is based on the company’s past experience transferring 

similar components and products from one production facility to another. 

Economic Harm to US Interests 

Pall Corporation is a filtration, separation and purification leader, headquartered in Port 

Washington, New York, providing solutions to meet the critical fluid management needs 

of customers across the broad spectrum of life sciences and industry. Pall provides 

equipment for customers who discover, develop and produce biotech drugs, vaccines, cell 

therapies and classic pharmaceuticals. These solutions are essential to the critical care of 

patients receiving medical treatment in the United States. 

Pall Corporation employees over 3900 people in 17 locations in the United States. These 

US facilities include manufacturing, innovation and administrative functions. 

The economic impact of the proposed additional 25% tariff will be approximately [ ]4

annually, to be directly absorbed by Pall Corporation. 

The US processes involved in producing these products include final assembly and testing 

on top of the US value added by Pall’s proprietary designs and intellectual property. The 

value of China-origin content in a US finished product is typically under 10%. 

Recent investigations by Pall indicate that even with the additional 25% duties in effect, 

certain materials and products will continue to be sourced in China for the long term 

because the costs associated with shifting production are greater than the duty 

assessment. On that basis, the additional duties are unlikely to have the intended effect 

of penalizing China for its practices, but instead will harm US interests such as Pall 

Corporation. 

 

3 Business confidential information that would endanger trade secrets or profitability, and 

information that would not customarily be released to the public. 

4 Business confidential information that would endanger trade secrets or profitability, and 

information that would not customarily be released to the public. 
United States Trade Representative 

October 5, 2018 

Page 4 of 5

505 Sansome Street, Suite 1475, San Francisco, CA 94111 USA • www.strtrade.com 

CHICAGO • GUANGZHOU • HONG KONG • MIAMI • NEW YORK • PAWLING, NY • SAN FRANCISCO • SHANGHAI • WASHINGTON D.C.

These goods are purchased through long term contracts under which prices are not 

adjustable. The increase in tariffs will only serve as a significant cost to Pall Corporation’s 

US business. 

Pall’s continuous polymer filter systems play a vital role in helping US polymer 

manufacturers hit the quality standards they need in order to be competitive in the global 

market. Most manufacturers in the US do not simply provide commodity plastics, but use 

innovative processes, inputs, and forming solutions to use polymers in unique ways. A 

key part of this is maintaining a high level of quality and this is done through advanced 

filtration solutions, like Pall’s systems. Without these systems, some US manufacturers 

would be left trying to compete based purely on price instead of quality, ingenuity, and 

other state-of-the-art factors. 

Economic Harm to Consumers 

Eventually these costs will be passed on to American consumers in the plastic products 

that they purchase. 

Conclusion 

For these reasons, we urge you to exclude the polymer filter systems described in Annex 

1 to this request, classified under HTS 8421.29.0065, from the proposed list for retaliatory 

tariffs in the amount of 25% on China origin goods. This action will inevitably and 

irrevocably harm Pall Corporation, a US manufacturer, as well as US plastics producers, 

and would not advance the administration’s goal of reducing China’s stated policy to force 

technology transfers. 

I certify that the information provided is complete and correct to the best of my 

knowledge. 

Sincerely yours, 

 Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A. 

 By:_ __________________________ 

 Elise Shibles 

Enclosure 

 
United States Trade Representative 

October 5, 2018 

Page 5 of 5

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CHICAGO • GUANGZHOU • HONG KONG • MIAMI • NEW YORK • PAWLING, NY • SAN FRANCISCO • SHANGHAI • WASHINGTON D.C.

ANNEX 1 

HTS: 8421.29.0065 

Description: polymer filtration systems, of steel housings and valves, and sintered metal 

cylindrical filters, for separating solid contaminants from liquid chemical polymers 

(provided for in subheading 8421.29.0065)