The January 2023 update to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule included several fixes not listed in the change record to resolve technical issues with the final update of 2022 (see 2301030052), according to an International Trade Commission staffer. Revision 12, released in November, had various technical problems due to the deployment of added security features in the data management system, which were not fully compatible with the underlying software. These comparability issues led to omissions, including the elimination of a table of additional duty rates on sugar-containing articles under 9904.17 and an expiration date column in subchapter II of Chapter 99. The HTS system has experienced issues when the custom-built system receives significant updates, the staff member said, but enhancements currently are in the works.
Customs duty
A customs duty is a tariff or tax which a country imposes on goods when they are transported across international borders. Customs Duties are used to protect countries' economies, residents, jobs, and environments, by limiting the flow of imported merchandise, especially restricted and prohibited goods, into the country. The Customs duty rate is a percentage determined by the value of the article purchased in the foreign country and not based on quality, size, or weight. U.S. customs duties are listed in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States.
The International Trade Commission posted the 2023 Basic Edition of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule. The new HTS implements the removal of AGOA benefits for Burkina Faso, as well as a lengthy list of 10-digit-level changes, including a bevy of new organic provisions for fruits and vegetables, more detailed provisions for plywood of tropical wood, and new tariff breakouts for pillows. Changes were effective as of Jan. 1 unless otherwise noted.
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top 20 stories published in 2022. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference numbers.
The International Trade Commission posted the 2023 Basic Edition of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule. The new HTS implements the removal of AGOA benefits for Burkina Faso, as well as a lengthy list of 10-digit level changes including a bevy of new organic provisions for fruits and vegetables, more detailed provisions for plywood of tropical wood, and new tariff breakouts for pillows. Changes were effective as of Jan. 1 unless otherwise noted.
The Commerce Department set the 12-month 2022 value-added tariff preference level for certain apparel imported directly from Haiti eligible to receive duty-free treatment under the Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity Through Partnership Encouragement Act (HOPE). For the one-year period Dec. 20, 2022, through Dec. 19, 2023, the recalculated quantity of imports eligible for preferential treatment under the value-added TPL is 412,506,163 square meters equivalent (SME). Apparel articles entered in excess of this TPL will be subject to otherwise applicable duty rates.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced eligibility for “trade surplus” tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) for sugar originating in certain free trade agreement countries for calendar year 2023. USTR found Colombia, Panama and five members of the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) eligible for the TRQ. The agency found that Chile, the Dominican Republic, Morocco and Peru do not qualify.
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
Although the House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee hearing was ostensibly about using trade agreements to promote environmental causes, Republicans on the dais mostly focused on their frustration that the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program and the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill have not been renewed, even though they have been lapsed for nearly two years.
Although some observers thought the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative's reaction to losing cases filed by Norway, Switzerland, Turkey and China at the World Trade Organization over its steel and aluminum tariffs marked a new era of rejecting the rules-based trading system, others who had served either in the WTO or the U.S. government said there was nothing too surprising about the U.S. reaction to its loss.
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.