The U.S. International Trade Commission released “The Year in Trade 2012,” its annual overview of the previous year's trade-related activities. The Year in Trade 2012 includes complete listings of antidumping, countervailing duty, safeguard, intellectual property rights infringement, and section 301 cases undertaken by the U.S. government in 2012. In addition, the report covers:
Importers should continue to flag goods that are eligible for Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) beyond the expiration of the program on July 31, said CBP in a CSMS message. The normal duty rate should be paid for GSP goods following the expiration, but continued flagging of the imports will allow CBP to process automatic duty refunds if GSP is renewed with a retroactive clause, the agency said. Importers should use the special program indicator (SPI) A or A+, it said. Both GSP and the Andean Trade Preference Act (ATPA) will expire at the end of the month unless Congress renews them. "No corresponding procedure is available" for the Andean programs. The expiration of GSP won't affect payment of the merchandise processing fee, said CBP.
CBP is extending the comment period to Aug. 5, on the extension of an existing information collection, the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Certificate of Origin. There are no changes to the information collected.
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The International Trade Commission posted its revised version of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule July 2, reflecting Generalized System of Preferences and other changes from proclamation 8997 (see 13070202), as well as technical amendments and new statistical suffixes for several subheadings. HTS 2013 Revision 1 also implements the U.S. Trade Representative’s March determination that Cote d’Ivoire qualifies for African Growth and Opportunity Act textile and apparel benefits (see 13031821). Most of the changes (here) are effective July 1.
As Ecuador surfaced as a possible asylum destination for NSA leaker Edward Snowden, two U.S. Senators challenged the country’s Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) eligibility, in statements released June 27. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) (here) and U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) (here) accused Ecuador of violating preferential status terms. The press releases followed an Ecuadorian government call to sever the preferential trade relationship, manifested through the Andean Trade Preference Act .
CBP said its Harmonized System Update (HSU) 1303 was created July 1, containing 1,303 ABI records and 190 harmonized tariff records. The update contains modifications made as a result of the June 27 Presidential Proclamation 8997, To Modify Duty-Free Treatment to the Generalized System of Preferences and for Other Purposes (see 13070202). It said changes also include those mandated by the 484 F Committee, Committee for Statistical Annotation of Tariff Schedules, effective July 1. Adjustments required by the verification of the 2013 Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) are also included, CBP said in a CSMS message. The modified records can be retrieved electronically via the procedures indicated in the CATAIR. Further information: Jennifer Keeling, Jennifer.Keeling@dhs.gov.
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President Obama published Proclamation 8997 and its related annexes in the Federal Register July 2, making changes to the Generalized System of Preferences program, including suspension of eligibility for Bangladesh, as well as other minor changes to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule. Revocation for Bangladesh is effective Sept. 3. All other changes to the HTS, which include GSP changes from the U.S. Trade Representative’s 2012 annual review, as well as amendments to tariff provisions in Chapter 85 and a technical change to Chapter 99, are effective July 1.
Correction: The withdrawal of Generalized System of Preferences benefits for Bangladesh will take effect Sept. 3, according to a Presidential Proclamation set for publication in the July 2 Federal Register.