President Barack Obama said seven cotton fiber products should be added to the list of those eligible for duty-free treatment under the program when imported from least developed country beneficiaries, in the Administration’s 2011 Annual Review under the Generalized System of Preferences program. Adding the products implements one element of the LDC trade initiatives that the Office of U.S. Trade Representative announced at the December 2011 World Trade Organization Ministerial, said USTR Ron Kirk.
The International Trade Commission issued Supplement 1 to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule which, among other things, (1) implements the President’s upcoming proclamation “To Modify Duty-Free Treatment Under the Generalized System of Preferences, and for Other Purposes”; and (2) makes changes approved by the Committee for Statistical Annotation of Tariff Schedules (formulated pursuant to section 484(f), Tariff Act of 1930, as amended). These changes are effective July 1. Details follow:
President Barack Obama proclaimed Gibraltar and the Turks and Caicos Islands to be be "high income" countries for purposes of the Generalized System of Preferences, both effective Jan. 1, 2014. He also said the Republic of Senegal should be designated a least-developed country for purposes of the GSP.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection will begin retroactive billing for merchandise entered between October 1 and November 4, 2011, with the increased merchandise processing fee, said CBP in a June 15 CSMS message. The billing will be done by the CBP Office of International Trade, said CBP. CBP said it began the scripting of liquidate entries last week and expects to liquidate approximately 20,000 entries per week but doesn't have an estimated completion date.
The International Trade Commission released a public version of its confidential report on the probable economic effect of possible modifications to the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), which provides duty-free treatment for specified U.S. imports from certain developing countries. The confidential version of the report, “Advice Concerning Possible Modifications to the U.S. Generalized System of Preferences, 2011 Review of Additions and Competitive Need Limitation Waivers,” was submitted to the U.S. Trade Representative May 14. The public version censors the ITC’s advice on each modification.
The President recently issued Proclamation 8818 to amend the Harmonized Tariff Schedule to implement the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement effective May 15, as well as to update the HTS for other laws and correct HTS technical errors. Details of the changes to the HTS in Annexes III and IV (amendments for other laws and corrections) include:
The President published Proclamation 8818 in the Federal Register which amends the Harmonized Tariff Schedule to implement the U.S.-Colomba Trade Promotion Agreement, effective for goods of Colombia entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption on or after May 15, 2012. The International Trade Commission simultaneously posted the Annexes to the Proclamation which list all of the 2012 and later year amendments to the HTS for this free trade agreement. The Proclamation and Annexes also make corrections to the HTS for certain preference programs and other FTAs.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection said May 14, 2012 goods of Argentina will lose Generalized System of Preference (GSP) eligibility if entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption on or after May 28, 2012. President Obama issued Presidential Proclamation 8788 (FR 1889, March 29, 2012) suspending Argentina’s GSP eligibility because Argentina had not acted in good faith in enforcing two longstanding arbitral awards.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has clarified that protests may be submitted for Generalized System of Preference (i) entries that were filed with the special program indicator (SPI) “A” at entry summary but for which the automated scripting failed to liquidate the entry with a refund, and (ii) entries for which a refund was requested retroactively but were denied in error.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection said May 15, 2012, system changes associated with the Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement are scheduled to be ready beginning May 16, 2012 at 7:00 a.m.