Proclamation Changes to HTS Include Korea Rules of Origin, Chile Radial Tires, Trade Preference Agreements
Changes to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule made by Presidential Proclamation 9072 are set to be published in the Dec. 31 Federal Register. The proclamation adds Mali as a beneficiary country under the African Growth and Opportunity Act after a year-long absence (see 13122418), and gives Curaçao beneficiary status under the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act and the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act. It also makes changes to the HTS to reflect the expiration of the Andean Trade Preference Act in July 2013, extends an agreement on agricultural tariffs with Israel, corrects errors related to duty free treatment of radial tires under the U.S.-Chile Free Trade Agreement, and makes wholesale changes to the rules of origin under the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement to reflect a newer version of the HTS.
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All of the changes to the HTS made by Proclamation 9072 are effective Jan. 1, except for the removal of the Andean Trade Preference Act, which expired July 31, 2013. Specific modifications to the HTS in Proclamation 9072 include the following
AGOA status for Mali. Proclamation 9072 returns Mali to sub-Saharan African beneficiary country status under the African Growth and Opportunity Act. The U.S. had revoked AGOA beneficiary status for Mali in December 2012 because it “was not making continual progress in meeting” AGOA requirements (see 12122725). President Obama is returning Mali to beneficiary status “based on actions the Government of Mali has taken over the past year,” said the proclamation. The proclamation adds “Republic of Mali (Mali)” to the alphabetical list of AGOA beneficiary sub-Saharan countries under general note 16(a) to the HTS, effective Jan. 1.
Israel agriculture agreement. In what has become an annual ritual, the proclamation extends coverage of a 2004 agreement on trade in agricultural products between the U.S. and Israel. The deal initially expired in 2008, but was extended for one year increments each year since. Proclamation 9072 again extends the expiration date of subchapter VIII of chapter 99 of the HTS until Dec. 31, 2014. The changes to subchapter VIII of chapter 99, reflected in Annex I to Proclamation 9072, take effect Jan. 1.
Curacao added to CBERA and CBTPA. The proclamation grants beneficiary status to Curaçao under the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act and the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act. The island country is a successor to the Netherlands Antilles, which is already listed as a CBERA and CBTPA beneficiary, it said. The proclamation adds Curaçao to the list of CBERA beneficiaries in general note 7(a) to the HTS, effective Jan. 1. To implement Curaçao’s designation as a CBTPA beneficiary, the U.S. Trade Representative will evaluate whether the country has satisfied CBTPA requirements and, if so, publish a Federal Register notice modifying general note 17 of the HTS to add Curaçao to the list of CBTPA beneficiaries.
U.S.-Korea Rules of Origin. Proclamation 9072 makes widespread changes to the rules of origin under the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement. The modifications are necessary to bring the rules of origin into conformance with 2011 changes to the HTS that were made to implement World Customs Organization recommendations (see 12013023). The U.S.-Korea FTA had been negotiated by the time those changes came into effect, so the rules of origin referenced the older version of the tariff schedule, said the proclamation. The changes to general note 33, which are detailed in Annex II of Proclamation 9072, take effect Jan. 1.
ATPA expiration. The Andean Trade Preferences Act expired on July 31, 2013, so Proclamation 9072 eliminates the program from the HTS. The changes, which are detailed in Annex III to the proclamation, include the removal of general note 11, the deletion of subchapter XXI of chapter 98, and the elimination of the symbols J, J+, and J* from chapters 1-99 of the HTS. The expiration of ATPA took effect July 31.
Chile duty rate errors. Finally, Proclamation 9072 makes corrections to errors in an earlier proclamation that resulted in an error in duty rates under the U.S.-Chile Free Trade Agreement for radial tires. Effective Jan. 1, the proclamation adds Chile to the list of countries that are duty “Free” under subheading 4011.10.10 and 4011.20.10 for radial tires for cars and trucks, respectively. It also deletes tariff rate quota provisions under subchapter XI of chapter 99 of the HTS. The changes are detailed in Annex IV to the proclamation.