ITC Posts Jan 1, 2011 HTS to Web Site
The International Trade Commission has posted the January 1, 2011 Harmonized Tariff Schedule to its Web site.
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According to the HTS Change Record and its introduction, the 2011 HTS reflects the following changes (partial list):
(Note that those listed with a double asterisk (**) are in the January 1, 2011 online version, but occurred too late to be in the January 1, 2011 print version. Also any changes that will result from the 2010 Omnibus Trade Act are not included in either version to date, as the measure has not been signed into law1.)
Croatia, Equatorial Guinea removed from GSP2. Proclamation 8467 removed these two countries from GSP eligibility effective January 1, 2011.
DRC removed from AGOA. Proclamation 8618 removed the Democratic Republic of Congo from AGOA eligibility, effective January 1, 2011.**
NAFTA General Notes. Proclamations 8405, 8536 and 8596 made technical corrections to General Note 12 (the North American Free Trade Agreement), effective October 2, 2009, October 3, 2009, and February 3, 2007, respectively.
SFTA and CFTA General Notes. Proclamation 8536 made technical corrections to General Notes 25 (Singapore FTA) and 26 (Chile FTA), effective February 8, 2009.
BFTA and DR-CAFTA General Notes. Proclamation 8596 made technical corrections to General Notes 29 (DR-CAFTA) and 30 (Bahrain FTA), effective March 1, 2006 and December 4, 2010, respectively.
484(f) Committee statistical changes. The 484(f) Committee approved a number of tariff numbers changes at the 9th and 10th digit level (at the request of CPSC, etc.); most of the changes are effective January 1, 2011.
Haiti Chapter 98 changes. Proclamations 8596 amended HTS Subchapter XX, Chapter 98, to implement certain provisions of the Haiti Economic Lift Program of 2010 (HELP Act), effective November 1, 2010.
Miscellaneous Tariff Bill. Public Law 111-227, the first MTB, created and extended/modified HTS Chapter 99 duty-free and reduced duty tariff numbers, effective August 26, 2010 (with provision to apply for beneficial treatment retroactive to any expiration dates).
Ethyl alcohol. P.L. 111-312 extended the effective date of certain Chapter 99 ethyl alcohol extra duties to January 1, 2012.**
Israel agricultural TRQs. Proclamation 8618 extended five tariff rate quotas for agricultural products through 2011, effective January 1, 2011.**
Other. The ITC states that changes reflected in the January 1, 2011 HTS but not listed in the Change Record include special rate modifications for free trade agreements such as the Peru, Oman and Bahrain FTAs, and changes in duty rates as a result of staging.
(Also, Proclamation 8618’s addition of over 700 pharmaceuticals and chemical intermediaries to the HTS Pharmaceutical Index, effective January 1, 2011, is not mentioned in the Change Record.)
Print Version of 2011 HTS
The print version of the January 1, 2011 HTS has likely been sent to the Government Printing Office contractor for printing and distribution to subscribers.
1While the Omnibus Trade Act will not renew GSP, alteration of the HTS GSP General Note or the A, A+, or A* SPIs in the HTS chapters may not occur if retroactive renewal is expected. Also, these SPIs are needed to identify tariff lines for an eventual refund of duties should GSP be retroactively extended in 2011.
2The Change Record and the HTS GSP General Note indicate that Cape Verde is removed from GSP effective January 1, 2011. However, effective January 1, 2010, Cape Verde was no longer considered a least developed GSP country. BP is checking on this issue and will update readers when new information is available.
(See ITT's Online Archives or 12/13/10 and 12/20/10 ITT news, 10121320 and 10122032, for BP summaries of the CPSC-requested tariff changes and the other requested tariff changes (all at the 9th and 10th digit level) approved by the 484(f) Committee.
See ITT's Online Archives or 12/14/10 news, 10121459, for BP summary of CBP's notice on the "blanket" authorization for I.D. privileges available for 2010 year-end shipments, in order to obtain lower 2011 duty rates (if any).
See ITT's Online Archives or 12/30/09 news, 09123025, for BP summary of Proclamation 8467.)
Electronic version of January 1, 2011 HTS is available for downloading by chapter or in its entirety from the ITC's Web site at http://www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/