The International Trade Commission posted Revision 6 to the 2018 Harmonized Tariff Schedule. The semiannual update to the HTS implements the third round of tariff cuts under the expanded World Trade Organization Information Technology Agreement, and adds new tariff numbers for a variety of products, including organic fruits and vegetables, lighted mirrors and molded or pressed paper plates. The ITC is also adding new tariff provisions that appear to cover products subject to antidumping and countervailing duty orders on solar cells and products from China and Taiwan, and reorganizing tariff classification provisions for archaeological and ethnographic objects. All changes take effect July 1, unless otherwise specified.
Harmonized Tariff Schedule
The Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) provide classification provisions and duty rates for almost every item that exists. It is a system of classifying and taxing all goods imported into the United States. The HTS is based on the international Harmonized System, which is a global standard for naming and describing trade products, and consists of a hierarchical structure that assigns a specific code and rate to each type of merchandise for duty, quota, and statistical purposes. The HTS was made effective on January 1, 1989, replacing the former Tariff Schedules of the United States. It is maintained by the U.S. International Trade Commission, but CBP is responsible for interpreting and enforcing the HTS.
Goods don’t qualify for duty-free treatment under the Nairobi Protocol simply because they are made to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Court of International Trade said in a June 19 decision. Toilets imported by Danze are classified as regular toilets, rather than falling under a special tariff provision for products specially designed for the handicapped, because they are meant and advertised for general use, despite including all features required under ADA standards for toilets, CIT said.
The use of a "fixed bed dryer" within a garlic processing process does not result in "toasting," CBP said in HQ H289310. CBP's March 5 ruling was in response to a protest and application for further review through the Port of Newark from FFI Group. FFI Group argued that the garlic at issue is classifiable as “Other vegetables prepared or preserved otherwise than by vinegar or acetic acid, not frozen, other than products of heading 2006: Other vegetables and mixtures of vegetables: Other: Other” in Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading 2005.99.97.
A May 29 quota status report lists one more Korean steel quota category that has been filled since May 1, bringing the total number of filled quotas to 13. The Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) subheadings for the filled quotas are:
The National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America, the National Retail Federation and 50 other trade groups in various industries want the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to “immediately make public” the details of the process it will use to add more Chinese-sourced products to the proposed 25 percent tariffs list, they said in comments dated May 22. “We strongly believe there needs to be additional public input for any products that USTR is considering adding to the proposed list,” said the comments, which also were signed by the Consumer Technology Association, the Toy Association and the Home Furnishings Association.
CBP provided an update "on remaining annual quota quantities for Korean steel imports as of May 7" in QB 18-120. A May 14 quota status report lists three additional Korean steel quota categories that were filled since May 7, bringing the total number of filled quotas to 12. The harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) subheadings for the filled quotas are:
The International Trade Commission released Revision 4 to the 2018 Harmonized Tariff Schedule, making several changes related to recently imposed Section 232 tariffs on aluminum and iron and steel products. The updated tariff schedule includes a series of new tariff subheadings in chapter 99 used to administer quotas on South Korean steel that form part of that country’s exemption agreement, as well as new language in the subchapter notes to chapter 99 on the Section 232 tariffs. The changes took effect May 1.
Though a new accounting class code will be implemented April 28 in ACE for duties on coffee imported into Puerto Rico, shipments from the continental U.S. to Puerto Rico, which are still subject to the duties, will continue to be presented as non-Automated Broker Interface entry summaries on Customs Form 7501, CBP said in a CSMS message. The duties, in effect since the 1930s, cover coffee imports into Puerto Rico under Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) heading 0901 and subheadings 2101.11-2101.12, 2202.99.28 and 2202.99.90, and amount to $2.50 per pound on regular coffee and $1.25 per dutiable pound on coffee preparations, CBP says on its website. The issue of filing domestic shipments came up during CBP’s April 26 biweekly ACE call. The new accounting class code is only meant to automate imports of coffee from foreign countries, which have up to now been filed non-ABI, a CBP official said. The automation will allow CBP to pull out and calculate the Puerto Rico coffee duty separate from regular import tariffs, she said.
The European Union will require additional customs duties on U.S. sweetcorn, women's trousers, crane lorries and metal glasses frames in response to Byrd amendment collections, the European Commission said in a notice published in the Official Journal on April 24. "As a result of the United States' failure to bring the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act (CDSOA) in compliance with its obligations under the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements," the EC imposed an additional 0.3 percent duty on those products. CBP continues to distribute antidumping and countervailing duties under CDSOA even though that law has been repealed.
The International Trade Commission recently issued further changes to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule meant to implement Section 201 safeguard duties on solar cells. Changes to 10-digit statistical suffixes in the tariff schedule allow for reporting of photovoltaic generators and solar modules comprising lead-acid batteries attached to solar cells. The modifications, approved by the interagency “484(f)” Committee for Statistical Annotation of Tariff Schedules, took effect March 1.