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Public Document

This exclusion request is for part number 1000843242 and 1000964122. The product is a filter, receiver, drier for filtering, 

dehydrating, and storage of liquid refrigerant (R134a) for commercial vehicle HVAC systems. The product has a 66.3 mm 

diameter by 202 mm long cylindrical housing with a bracket reaching 54 mm from the center. The product is made of mild 

carbon steel, molecular sieve desiccant, fluorescent dye wafer, and paint. The product is sold to customers for use in the 

refrigerant system for an occupant air conditioner for an agricultural tractor in the agricultural industry. The product is packaged 

in bulk in gaylord containers, skidded, labeled and shrink-wrapped. It is shipped in ocean containers. The Bergstrom Part 

Number, Part Description, HTS Code, and Purchase Order # are printed on the commercial invoice. The part number is also 

affixed to the label and carton. This distinguishes the product from other imported products and facilitates the administration of 

this exclusion by CBP.

8421290065

Gregg, Joanne

Bergstrom, Inc.

David Hamill, Arent Fox LLP

Importer

YES

Public Document
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NO

NO

 $72,787.20 8160 pcs

$25,689.60 2880 pcs

$4,388.82 501 pcs

See attached for arguments in support of this exclusion request.
-~-------------

~ Bergstrom. 

October 5, 2018 

VIA REGULATIONS.GOV 

The Honorable Robert E. Lighthizer 

U.S. Trade Representative 

Office of the U.S. Trade Representative 

600 17th Street, NW, Room F516 

Washington, D.C., 20006 

PUBLIC DOCUMENT 

Docket No. USTR-2018-0025 

Re: Request for Exclusion of Filters, Receivers, Driers for Filtering under 8421. 29. 0065.from 

the Determination of Action Pursuant to Section 301 

Dear Ambassador Lighthizer: 

Bergstrom Inc. ("Bergstrom") respectfully submits this request for exclusion of filters, 

receivers, driers for filtering from the proposed determination of action pursuant to Section 301 

of the Trade Act of 1974. 1 This request is timely filed, pursuant to the U.S. Trade 

Representative's ("USTR") instructions set form in the Section 301 Determination. 2 

Bergstrom designs and manufactures cab climate systems for heavy-duty commercial 

trucks, off-highway machinery, and specialty vehicles. From humble beginnings as a producer of 

heaters for Carpenter & Thomas School Buses in 1952, we have grown into one of the world's 

leading manufacturers of climate control solutions for the commercial vehicle industry. 

Bergstrom is headquartered in Rockford, Illinois and today employs 1,600 workers worldwide. 

1 19 U.S.C. § 2411. 

2 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). 

2390 Blackhawk Road• P.O. Box 6007 • Rockford, IL 61125 • .bergstrominc.com • 1.815.874.7821 
In addition to our 32-acre facility in Rockford, which has been the hub of our operations 

since 1971, we have a second facility in Rockford dedicated to service parts, a contract assembly 

plant dedicated to assembling cabs for Caterpillar in Joliet, Illinois, and a manufacturing plant 

servicing OEM customers in San Antonio, Texas. In total, our U.S. facilities employ 559 salaried 

and fully benefited workers. We also have facilities in Wales, United Kingdom, Changzhou, 

China, and Madrid, Spain. 

This exclusion request addresses filters, receivers, driers for filtering classified under 

HTS US subheading 8421.29.0065, which are currently subject to the 25% additional Section 301 

tariff. The imposition of the tariff will negatively impact Bergstrom's U.S. operations and our 

U.S. employees. Please note that a separate Section 301 Investigation Form to Request Exclusion 

of Product has been submitted for each unique part number for which we are requesting an 

exclusion. 

In accordance with the procedures released by the Office of the United States Trade 

Representative ("USTR"),3 Bergstrom provides the following information requested by the 

USTR in support of this request. 

1. Availability of the product outside of China, i.e. whether the particular product 

and/or a comparable product is available from sources in the United States and/or 

in third countries 

Bergstrom is not aware of any immediately available U.S. or third-country sources for the 

same or comparable products. Any supplier change would require a multi-year process to 

identify and establish a new source, complete testing, and obtain compliance approvals. 

[2] 
Bergstrom has more than 65 years of experience in the climate control industry. For the 

past 20 years, we have sourced the filters, receivers, driers for filtering that are the subject of this 

exclusion request from our wholly owned facility in China. Production of the subject filters, 

receivers, driers for filtering is based on well-established technology and the filters, receivers, 

driers for filtering have become a commodity product. We shifted production of this and other 

low-cost components to China in 1998 to protect our higher technology manufacturing 

operations in the United States. Higher technology components and complete HV AC systems are 

produced by top engineering professionals using state-of-the-art equipment at our facility in 

Rockford, Illinois. Use of our global supply chain has allowed for our continued growth and 

protected hundreds of downstream manufacturing jobs in the United States. 

Our major OEM customers require significant validation and a rigorous approval process 

based on the Automotive Industry Action Group ("AIAG") Pre-Production Approval Process 

("PPAP"). Bergstrom China, our Chinese facility, is wholly-owned to best protect our assets and 

to provide us with complete control over the production of our components in China. We have 

found our current global supply chain model to be the best option for sourcing these products and 

any disruptions caused by the proposed tariffs will result in serious inefficiencies and increased 

costs for our business and our customers in the automotive OEM and aftermarket. 

While it may be possible to source the filters, receivers, driers for filtering from other 

countries, any transition to third-country suppliers would take 18-24 months and significant 

investment of resources due to the comprehensive approval process required by OEMs in the 

automotive industry. Thus, no comparable products are immediately available. 

[3] 
2. Whether the imposition of additional duties on the particular product would cause 

severe economic harm to the requester or other US interests 

The products imported by Bergstrom are components of climate control systems that are 

used to support domestic manufacturing operations and jobs in the United States. The 

imposition of a 25% tariff on these parts could cause severe economic harm to U.S. interests, 

including our employees and customers. Our downstream manufacturing operations in Rockford, 

Illinois and San Antonio, Texas, which employ 125 workers, some of which have worked at our 

facilities for decades, will specifically be threatened. Because our U.S. facilities depend on the 

sourcing of products from China, we may be forced to shift production overseas to remain 

competitive in the U.S. market, resulting in the loss of up to 300 American manufacturing jobs. 

Additionally, if Bergstrom absorbs the tariff on any of these products, our profitability 

will be damaged, which could hurt our ability to invest in innovative technologies, U.S. facilities 

and American workforce training and development. If the additional tariffs will be passed on to 

U.S. consumers through higher prices, our significant downstream manufacturing operations in 

the United States will be threatened because the customers in this highly competitive industry 

will simply refuse to accept such a price increase. Furthermore, because we supply products to 

customers in the U.S. automotive OEM and aftermarket, the additional tariffs will have 

substantial and lasting negative effects on U.S. businesses in the trucking, off-highway, school 

bus, military, and mining sectors. Given the potential negative impact on Bergstrom, our 

employees, customers, and U.S. businesses, we respectfully request that you grant this exclusion 

request. 

[4] 
3. Whether the particular product is strategically important or related to "Made in 

China 2025" or other Chinese industrial programs 

The imposition of a 25% tariff on filters, receivers, driers for filtering will not impact the 

Chinese intellectual property violations they seek to eliminate. Section 301 tariffs should be 

specifically targeted at products that have benefitted from the China's acts, policies, and 

practices detailed in the USTR' s Section 301 Report. The filters, receivers, driers for filtering at 

issue have not benefited from China's discriminatory licensing requirements, foreign ownership 

restrictions, state-funded acquisitions, or state-backed hacking operations. Bergstrom voluntarily 

formed a wholly owned foreign entity in China in 1998, over which we maintain 100 % 

ownership. Bergstrom has never transferred any intellectual property rights to Chinese producers 

and none of our company's intellectual property is currently being used by our Chinese facility. 

Indeed, the filters, receivers, driers for filtering at issue have been in the marketplace for more 

than 20 years and do not contain sensitive technology or intellectual property. Furthermore, the 

subject filters, receivers, driers for filtering are produced for our exclusive use, namely the 

downstream production of climate control systems in the United States. 

[5] 
-------------------------

We appreciate the Department's consideration of this exclusion request. Please contact 

the undersigned if you have any questions regarding this submission. 

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

knowledge. 

[6] 

Respectfully submitted, 

~~ Name: Joanne Gregg 

Title: Director, Global Logistics and 

Trade Compliance 

Company: Bergstrom Inc. 

Contact: JGregg@bergstrominc.com