The Commerce Department is accepting public comments on any subsidies, including stumpage, paid by certain countries that exported softwood lumber to the U.S. between July 1 and Dec. 31, Commerce said (here). Comments are due June 5. The Softwood Lumber Act of 2008 requires Commerce to submit a report every 180 days on any subsidy provided by nations exporting softwood lumber or softwood products to the U.S., including subsidies for stumpage. Commerce is seeking public comment on subsidies paid by countries whose exports composed at least 1 percent of total U.S. softwood imports by quantity, as classified under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) subheading 4407.10.01, the agency said. International Trade Commission Tariff and Trade DataWeb information indicates that only Canada exported softwood lumber to the U.S. during that six-month period in amounts sufficient to account for at least 1 percent of U.S. imports of softwood lumber products.
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.
The International Trade Commission on Jan. 1 posted the Preliminary Edition of the 2017 Harmonized Tariff Schedule (here). The new HTS implements a wide range of changes to the World Customs Organization’s Harmonized System tariff nomenclature, which forms the basis for the HTS, that took effect at the beginning of 2017. This is the sixth and final part of International Trade Today's multipart summary, covering vehicles, precision instruments, manufactured articles and special tariff provisions under chapters 87-99. This part also includes a list of subheadings that were assigned the special program indicator (SPI) "NP" to denote eligibility for the Nepal Preference Program.
The International Trade Commission on Jan. 1 posted the Preliminary Edition of the 2017 Harmonized Tariff Schedule (here). The new HTS implements a wide range of changes to the World Customs Organization’s Harmonized System tariff nomenclature, which forms the basis for the HTS, that took effect at the beginning of 2017. This is the fifth part of International Trade Today's multipart summary, covering machinery and electrical equipment of chapters 84 and 85.
The International Trade Commission on Jan. 1 posted the Preliminary Edition of the 2017 Harmonized Tariff Schedule (here). The new HTS implements a wide range of changes to the World Customs Organization’s Harmonized System tariff nomenclature, which forms the basis for the HTS, that took effect at the beginning of 2017. This is the fourth part of International Trade Today's multipart summary, covering textiles, ceramics, metals and metal products of chapters 54 through 83.
The International Trade Commission on Jan. 1 posted the Preliminary Edition of the 2017 Harmonized Tariff Schedule (here). The new HTS implements a wide range of changes to the World Customs Organization’s Harmonized System tariff nomenclature, which forms the basis for the HTS, that took effect at the beginning of 2017. This is the third part of International Trade Today's multipart summary, covering pharmaceuticals, pesticides, other chemical products, plastics and rubber, wood and wood products and paper of chapters 30 through 48.
The International Trade Commission on Jan. 1 posted the Preliminary Edition of the 2017 Harmonized Tariff Schedule (here). The new HTS implements a wide range of changes to the World Customs Organization’s Harmonized System tariff nomenclature, which forms the basis for the HTS, that took effect Jan. 1. The Preliminary Edition also includes changes to rules of origin and eligibility for preferences programs and to statistical suffixes in the HTS.
The International Trade Commission on Jan. 1 posted the Preliminary Edition of the 2017 Harmonized Tariff Schedule (here). The new HTS implements a wide range of changes to the World Customs Organization’s Harmonized System tariff nomenclature, which forms the basis for the HTS, that took effect Jan. 1. The Preliminary Edition also includes changes to rules of origin and eligibility for preferences programs and to statistical suffixes in the HTS.
References to “Pignolia” in the tariff schedule include only nuts of the Pinus pinea tree, the Court of International Trade said in a decision issued Dec. 2 (here). Other kinds of pine nuts, including seeds of the Pinus koraiensis tree imported by Specialty Commodities, are not classifiable as pignolia in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule, CIT said.
Seekers of miscellaneous tariff bill (MTB) duty reductions for garment ensembles should include the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) subheadings and descriptions of individual, constituent garments in the “article description” part of their petitions for duty relief so that the International Trade Commission can accurately calculate revenue loss, ITC attorney-adviser Jan Summers said during a Nov. 29 webinar. ITC officials hosted the webinar to clarify information to include in MTB petitions after it received several improper filings since the opening of ITC’s online petition portal on Oct. 14 (see 1611090012). Filers can narrow the scope of apparel filings by defining fabric types more specifically, Summers said. “But you’d want to be careful,” she said. “Don’t add a requirement that would force the product to be classified in another rate line, or that causes interpretive issues.” After the ITC received a question about whether to include fabric sourcing information in petitions, Summers said that data isn’t appropriate for including in article descriptions. Filers also shouldn’t describe an apparel article according to the company that makes it, Summers added.
Several petitions filed for temporary Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (MTB) duty suspensions and reductions contain incomplete article descriptions that may not be administrable by CBP, and the International Trade Commission (ITC) released guidance to help filers craft such descriptions, the commission said. The ITC opened MTB petition filings on Oct. 14, in line with the process outlined in the American Manufacturing Competitiveness Act of 2016 enacted May 20. The guidance (here) says article descriptions should include clear and administrable language, applicable Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) subheading numbers, and any standard identification numbers or names, such as Chemical Abstracts Service number for chemicals. The guidance notes that product descriptions are different from article descriptions, which go into an HTS heading in Chapter 99. Product descriptions are narratives that inform about other details of the product.