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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:

4.

5. Requestor's relationship to the product:

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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/

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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 

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United Scope LLC 14370 Myford Rd., Suite 150, Irvine, CA 92620 Tel: 949-333-0001 

Submitted via www.regulations.gov 

October 9, 2018 

Ambassador Robert Lighthizer, U.S. Trade Representative 

Office of the United States Trade Representative 

600 17th Street NW, Room F516 

Washington, DC 20508-0001 

 

RE: USTR 2018-00025; Request for Exclusion From the Determination of Action Pursuant 

to Section 301: China’s Acts, Policies, and Practices Related to Technology Transfer, 

Intellectual Property, and Innovation Tariff Under Harmonized Tariff Code (HTS) 

9011.90.0000 

 

Dear Ambassador, 

 

This request for exclusion is submitted pursuant to Federal Register notice published on July 11, 

2018,1 establishing the process to submit exclusion requests from tariffs applied to U.S. imports 

pursuant to the Determination of Action Pursuant to Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974: China's 

Acts, Policies and Practices Related to Technology Transfer, Intellectual Property and Innovation. 

We hereby respectfully request that the compound microscope parts and accessories imported 

by United Scope LLC (“United Scope” or “the Company”), under HTS 9011.90.0000 be excluded 

from the additional 25% tariff imposed on this HTS code pursuant to Section 301. 

 

Explained below are the reasons why the subject compound microscope attachments meet the 

elements in the Federal Register notice to be excluded from the additional tariff under Section 

301. 

 

1. Distinguished from Other Products in the 8-digit HTS code 

The subject compound microscope attachment, model MS90, is classified under HTS 

9011.90.0000, which covers parts and accessories of compound optical microscopes, including 

those for photomicrography, cinemicrography or microprojection. Parts and accessories of 

compound optical microscopes are classified under a 4-digit heading – HTS 9011 – and 

immediately categorized into its own code at the 10-digit statistical suffix level. 

Since compound microscope parts and accessories are not categorized by 8-digit HTS codes, 

United Scope will distinguish the subject merchandise at the 10-digit level. Products falling under 

this HTS code are distinguished from the other 10-digit tariff descriptions under HTS 9011 as they 

are not stand-alone products capable of performing a function without attachment to a 

microscope. This is a mechanical caliper accessory for specific compound microscopes, 

measuring 117mm x 110mm x 16mm, and constructed with metal and plastic components. It is 

designed to attached to a microscope's stage, using a thumb-screw to secure it in position. The 

 

1 83 Fed. Reg. 32181 – 32184 (July 11, 2018). 

if~~}ID'i:, . I:· United Scope 'ftff{::· Global microscopy and optical solutions 
Section 301 Exclusion Request – List 1 

Page 2

United Scope LLC 14370 Myford Rd., Suite 150, Irvine, CA 92620 Tel: 949-333-0001 

spring-loaded caliper is designed to hold a specimen-slide, while two knobs control X-axis and Yaxis movements. 

2. The Compound Microscope Attachments Cannot be Sourced from the U.S. 

United Scope cannot source this product from the United States. As aforementioned, compound 

microscope parts and accessories are classified under HTS 9011.90.0000, under which there is 

a great divide between products with different capabilities. For products that offer more complex 

functionality, there are currently countries other than China where this product can be 

manufactured; however, United Scope does not sell those models. United Scope deals in basic, 

value-driven products where price competition is strict and alternative sourcing is extremely 

difficult to find. For example, United Scope found comparably priced products in other countries, 

such as India, but upon closer inspection, the Company realized that the products are actually 

sourced from China with little to no value added in the third country. This search illustrates the 

scarcity of suppliers in this industry and evidences that alternatives for production are few. 

United Scope is continuing to look for alternate suppliers, however, the search thus far has proven 

unsuccessful in finding comparably priced sourcing. Additionally, because the Company does 

not currently manufacture compound microscope parts and accessories, it would require 

significant capital investments by their suppliers, estimated to be between $10 to $12 million, or 

joint ventures between United Scope and their suppliers, to set up production in other countries. 

At present, the time and cost of setting up a manufacturing base of their own anywhere else is 

cost-prohibitive at the Company’s current size. 

3. Severe Economic Burden to United Scope and U.S. Interests 

In total, United Scope only imports from [ ] per year of the subject compound microscope parts 

and accessories from China. This imported value represents an insignificant amount of the $50 

billion in imported goods from China that the Section 301 List 1 tariffs are intended to address. 

Further, United Scope is a relatively small-sized business, employing only 39 people but has been 

providing dependable products to American consumers for more than 20 years. Without 

drastically changing sourcing, United Scope would be paying an additional 25% to import the 

parts and accessories thereby adding immensely to the company’s cost relative to its [ ] profit 

margin. The additional burden of paying these tariffs for its imports is vastly disproportionate to 

the size of the Company. The additional duties make it impossible for United Scope to absorb 

the additional financial impact and still retain its level of economic competition. In fact, the 

Company could quite possibly be unable to do so, meaning the Company would be forced to 

close and lay off employees. 

These attachments represent a large revenue source to the Company. To levy this large of an 

additional cost to the product translates to an additional cost of $25,000 for every $100,000 in 

material purchases on Chinese manufactured microscope parts and accessories. This would 

basically eliminate United Scope’s net income on the entire product offering for the entire period 

the tariffs are in effect or quite possibly shut down United Scope’s business, altogether when 

compounded with other subject merchandise. The elimination of numerous jobs and the 

elimination of an American company’s footprint to offset the tariff impact would, undoubtedly, 

ensue. As such, United Scope - an American-made company - would suffer due to imposition of 

the additional tariffs. 

I 

I 
Section 301 Exclusion Request – List 1 

Page 3

United Scope LLC 14370 Myford Rd., Suite 150, Irvine, CA 92620 Tel: 949-333-0001 

4. Relevance to “Made in China 2025” Program 

United Scope’s products do not infringe or license any existing U.S. patents. There are no U.S. 

patents or patent applications for the product included in this request. In fact, there is no 

proprietary technology or intellectual property developed or owned by the Company. United 

Scope is not aware of any material breach of intellectual property rights from this factory in its 

history of operation. Because microscope technology is well-established, United Scope does not 

own or license any intellectual property in acquisition of its microscopes or parts and accessories, 

and it is not transferring any IP to the Chinese factory. There is no forced transfer of technology, 

which transfer is the focus of the Section 301 tariffs as discussed in the Section 301 report from 

the USTR.2 

Compound microscope parts and accessories are not one of the following ten industries which 

are the focus of the “Made in China 2025” program: 

1) Advanced information technology; 

2) robotics and automated machine tools; 

3) aircraft and aircraft components; 

4) maritime vessels and marine engineering equipment; 

5) advanced rail equipment; 

6) new energy vehicles; 

7) electrical generation and transmission equipment; 

8) agricultural machinery and equipment; 

9) new materials; and 

10) pharmaceuticals and advanced medical devices. 

There is accordingly no direct link between these imports of compound microscope attachments 

and the goals of the Section 301 tariffs to address the targeted industries in the “Made in China 

2025” program. Additionally, United Scope’s business relationship is not subject to any Chinese 

administrative policies which require the transfer of its intellectual property in any manner. Thus, 

penalizing a U.S. company whose products employ well-established, widespread technology by 

forcing it to pay additional duties does not further the U.S. government’s policy regarding the 

“Made in China 2025” initiative. In fact, the relationship between the Section 301 tariff goals and 

the actual impact in this instance is nonexistent. Applying the Section 301 tariff to the imports of 

the subject microscope attachments by United Scope does not serve the purpose of the Section 

301 goals but in fact contravenes the goals. 

In light of the above, United Scope sincerely requests that its compound microscope attachment 

MS90 be granted an exclusion of the 25% Section 301 tariff. Importation of this product does not 

undermine the U.S. government policy toward the “Made in China 2025” program and would only 

be detrimental to the economic viability of this small-sized U.S. company. United Scope certifies 

that information provided is complete and correct to the best of its knowledge. 

 

2 United States Officer of the Trade Representative “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”, (Mar. 22, 2018); also found at: https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/Section%20301%20FINAL.PDF. 
Section 301 Exclusion Request – List 1 

Page 4

United Scope LLC 14370 Myford Rd., Suite 150, Irvine, CA 92620 Tel: 949-333-0001 

If you require any additional information or have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact 

our General Manager for Global Business Operations, Roger de León at (714) 942-3230 or email 

Roger@unitedscope.com. Your response or request for any additional information you may 

require may also be sent to the undersigned at the following address: 

United Scope LLC 

14370 Myford Rd. 

Suite 150 

Irvine, CA 92606 

Sincerely, 

Orlan Davies 

Vice President