WCO Approves 2017 Amendments to HS Tariff Schedule: Chapters 39-97

The 2017 Harmonized System (HS) is the sixth version since the tariff schedule first came into force in 1983. The last amendments to the HS were approved in 2009 and took effect on Jan. 1, 2012. In this version, environmental and social issues are a major feature of these amendments, because of “the importance of the HS as a global tool for collecting trade statistics and monitoring trade,” said the WCO as in its announcement (here). The majority of the amendments were recommended by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, it said.

(The following summary omits several minor changes that were made in the HS 2017 to correct spelling errors and make conforming changes like renumbering. Because of the length of the list of changes, this summary only includes changes to HS Chapters 39-97. See 14073002 for summary of Chapters 1-38.)

Rubber, Plastics, and Leather

Highlights of changes to Chapters 39-43 include new provisions for MDI and PET plastics, as well as more detailed provisions for tires of agricultural, construction and industrial vehicles.

Ethylene polymers. New subheading 3901.40 for “ethylene-alpha-olefin copolymers, having a specific gravity of less than 0.94” is added. A conforming change is made to Subheading Note 2 to specify that the ethylene-alpha-olefin copolymers are only classifiable in subheading 3901.40 if they comonomer units of the copolymers contribute 95% or more by weight.

Polyethylene terephthalate. The subheading for polyethylene terephthalate (PET) in primary form (3907.60) is broken out into subheadings for PET with a viscosity of 78 ml/g or higher (3907.61) and “other” PET (3907.69).

MDI. “Poly(methylene phenyl isocyanate) (crude MDI, polymeric MDI)” now gets its own subheading (3909.31) in the 2017 HS under the former subheading for “other amino-resins,” which also gets an “other” category for other non-MDI amino-resins (3909.39).

New pneumatic tires. Classification of new pneumatic tires (other than for cars, trucks, motorcycles, aircraft and bicycles) gets an overhaul, with subheadings 4011.60-69 for “herring bone” tread tires deleted and new subheadings inserted in their place for tires “of a kind used on agricultural or forestry vehicles and machines” (4011.70) and tires “of a kind used on construction, mining or industrial handling vehicles and machines” (4011.80). The “other” category, which previously included the new subheadings for agricultural, forestry, construction and industrial tires, now gets a single subheading (4011.90).

Handbags and cases with plastic sheeting. References to outer surfaces of “plastic sheeting” in subheadings for handbags (4202.22), cases meant to be carried in a pocket or handbag (4202.32), and “other” containers (4202.92) are replaced by references to surfaces “of sheeting of plastics.”

Wood and Paper

Changes to the classification of forestry products are meant to "enhance the coverage of wood species and get a better picture of trade patterns,” said the WCO. A new classification scheme for tropical woods “will enable trade data on tropical wood to be identified, resulting in better statistics on the trade in tropical wood and better data on the use of non-tropical hardwoods,” it said. Other changes will improve monitoring and control of bamboo products, it said. The 2017 HS also changes the size of newsprint to reflect modern practices, said the WCO.

Tropical wood. The 2017 HS deletes a lengthy list of about 90 types of “tropical woods” in Subheading Note 2, as well as references to Subheading Note 2 in subheadings 4403.41 to 4403.49, 4407.21 to 4407.29, 4408.31 to 4408.39 and 4412.31. Each of these subheadings will now simply refer to products “of tropical wood” instead of products “specified in Subheading Note 2.”

The 2017 HS also adds new subheading 4409.22 for non-coniferous tropical wood continuously shaped along any of its edges, ends or faces. The category previously only included subheadings for coniferous wood, and bamboo and “other” non-coniferous wood.

Bamboo flooring panels. Subheadings 4418.70-79 for assembled flooring panels are reorganized to create a new subheading for panels with at least the top layer (wear layer) of bamboo (4418.73), as well as non-bamboo mosaic floor panels (4418.74), non-bamboo hardwood floor panels (4418.74), and “other” floor panels. The subheadings previously did not include a separate classification for bamboo.

Other bamboo builders’ joinery and carpentry. The subheading for “other” builders joinery carpentry (i.e., not windows, doors, shuttering, shingles, posts and beams or flooring panels) is broken out into subheadings for other builders joinery of bamboo (4418.91) and “other” other builders’ joinery (4418.99).

Bamboo tableware and kitchenware. Heading 4419 for wooden tableware and kitchenware is broken out into subheadings for bamboo tableware and kitchenware (4419.11-19) and non-bamboo tableware and kitchenware (4419.90). The subheadings for products of bamboo are further broken out into bamboo bread/cutting boards (4419.11), bamboo chopsticks (4419.12), and “other” tableware and kitchenware of bamboo (4419.19).

‘Other’ articles of bamboo. The subheading for articles of wood not elsewhere identified in Chapter 44 is broken out into “other” articles of bamboo (4421.91) and “other” other articles (4421.99).

Size criteria for ‘newsprint.’ Size criteria for newsprint under heading 4801 that is currently contained in Note 8 is moved to the general definition in Note 4 so it covers "newsprint" throughout Chapter 48. New size criteria reflect the advent of smaller newspapers, now saying “newsprint” refers to paper: (a) in strips or rolls of a width exceeding 28 cm (from 36 cm); or (b) in rectangular (including square) sheets with one side exceeding 28 cm (from 36 cm) and the other side exceeding 15 cm in the unfolded state.”

Textiles

Keeping with its focus on malaria, the WCO in the 2017 HS is adding tariff provisions for insecticide-impregnated knits and nets. Other changes include new subheadings for polypropylene fibers and yarn and artificial filament tow.

High-tenacity yarn. Current provisions for “high tenacity yarn of nylon or other polyamides” under subheadings 5402.11-19 and “high tenacity yarn of polyesters” under 5402.20 are amended to add that they include yarns “whether or not textured.”

Polypropylene. New subheadings are added for non-high tenacity, non-textured single polypropylene yarn. Subheading 5402.53 covers such yarn with a twist exceeding 50 turns per meter. Subheading 5402.63 now covers such yarn “multiple (folded) or cabled).

Additionally, subheading 5506.40 is added for polypropylene staple fiber that has been carded, combed or otherwise processed for spinning.

Artificial filament tow. Heading 5502 for artificial filament tow is broken out into subheadings for artificial filament tow of cellulose acetate (5502.10) and “other” artificial filament tow (5502.90).

Felt tile floors. New subheading 5704.2 is added for felt tiles with a maximum surface area of between 0.3 and 10 square meters.

Insecticide-impregnated knits. Provisions for warp knit fabrics not specified in headings 6001 to 6004 are overhauled to create a subheading for fabrics impregnated or coated with certain chemicals. New subheading 6004.35 covers “fabrics specified in Subheading Note 1”. New Subheading Note 1 says 6005.35 covers “fabrics of polyethylene monofilament or of polyester multifilament, weighing not less than 30 g/m2 and not more than 55 g/m2, having a mesh size of not less than 20 holes/cm2 and not more than 100 holes/cm2, and impregnated or coated with alpha-cypermethrin (ISO), chlorfenapyr (ISO), deltamethrin (INN, ISO), lambda-cyhalothrin (ISO), permethrin (ISO) or pirimiphos-methyl (ISO). Existing subheadings for other synthetic warp knit fabrics are renumbered as subheadings 6005.35-39.

Mosquito nets. Also, new subheading 6304.20 is added for bed nets of warp knit fabrics “specified in Subheading Note 1” to Chapter 63. New Subheading Note 1 clarifies that 6304.20 covers bed nets impregnated or coated with the insecticides alpha-cypermethrin (ISO), chlorfenapyr (ISO), deltamethrin (INN, ISO), lambda-cyhalothrin (ISO), permethrin (ISO) or pirimiphosmethyl (ISO).

Ceramics

In the only change to Chapters 68-70, the 2017 HS eliminates the distinction between glazed and unglazed ceramic products. The subheadings are being merged “to take account of the fact that the main subheadings within these headings concern products which are essentially no longer manufactured, and the industry and trade no longer make a distinction between unglazed and glazed ceramic products,” said the WCO. Meanwhile, new products with a very high trade volume are classified under subheadings 6907.90 and 6908.90 ("Other"), it said. Changes are as follows:

Ceramic wall tiles, paving stones, and hearth stones. Previously separate headings for glazed (6907) and unglazed (6908) “ceramic flags and paving, hearth or wall tiles, mosaic cubes and the like, whether or not on a backing” are combined into a single heading 6907, which also now includes finishing ceramics. The new heading is divided into subheadings as follows:

• Flags and paving, hearth or wall tiles, other than those of subheadings 6907.30 and 6907.40:
  • 6907.21 -- Of a water absorption coefficient by weight not exceeding 0.5 %
  • 6907.22 -- Of a water absorption coefficient by weight exceeding 0.5 % but not exceeding 10 %
  • 6907.23 -- Of a water absorption coefficient by weight exceeding 10 %
• 6907.30 - Mosaic cubes and the like, other than those of subheading 6907.40
• 6907.40 - Finishing ceramics

Articles of Base Metal

The 2017 HS makes relatively few changes for Section XV, as follows:

Water-jet cutting machines. Language is added to heading 8205 to clarify that, along with accessories and parts of machine tools, accessories and parts of water-jet cutting machines are not classified in that heading.

Clasps. Heading 8308 is amended to add clothing accessories, jewelry, wristwatches, books, leather goods and saddlery as examples of the uses for clasps classified in that heading.

Machinery

Of the widespread changes to tariff provisions for machinery in the 2017 HS, many were made to modernize the tariff schedule, said the WCO. Changes that reflect advances in technology include new subheadings for light-emitting diode (LED) lamps and multi-component integrated circuits (MCOs), as well as the removal of the heading for typewriters from the HS.

Radiators. Radiators for vehicles in Section XVII of the tariff schedule are added to Note 1 to Chapter 84 as a product not classifiable in that chapter.

Laboratory equipment. Laboratory equipment “designed for mechanical operation, in which a change of temperature, even if necessary, is subsidiary” is added to Note 2 to Chapter 84 as an article that cannot be classified in subheading 8419.

Ceiling and floor A/C units. Existing subheading 8415.10 for window or wall type air conditioners that are self-contained or split-system is amended to also include air conditioners of a kind designed to be fixed to the ceiling or floor.

Agricultural/plant sprayers. Mechanical agricultural and horticultural sprayers are given their own subheading in the 2017 HS. New subheading 8424.41 is created for portable agricultural and horticultural sprayers, while non-portable sprayers go in subheading 8424.49.

Manure spreaders and fertilizer distributors. The previously combined subheading 8432.40 for manure spreaders and fertilizer distributors is divided into subheading 8432.41 for manure spreaders, and subheading 8432.42 for fertilizer distributors.

Laser/plasma/water cutting machines. More detail is added to the classification in heading 8456 of machine tools for working any material by removal of material. The previously combined subheading 8456.10 for machine tools for working any material by removal of material, by laser or other light or photon beam, is divided into subheadings 8456.11 for those operated by laser and 8456.12 for those operated by other light or photon beam processes. New subheading 8456.40 is added for plasma arc cutters, and new subheading 8456.50 is added for water-jet cutting machines.

Boring machines. Existing subheading 8459.40 for “other boring machines” (i.e. not way-type unit head machines and not boring-milling machines) is divided into subheadings 8459.41 for numerically controlled machines, and 8459.49 for non-numerically controlled machines.

Grinding machines. The 2017 HS removes a requirement that grinding machines be accurate to 0.1 mm in order to be classified in subheadings 8460.10-29. It also adds new subheadings for non-flat surface, numerically controlled centerless grinding machines (8460.22) and other numerically controlled cylindrical grinding machines (8460.23).

Machining centers. New subheading 8465.20 is added for “machining centers”. New Subheading Note 1 to Chapter 84 is also added to clarify that, “for the purposes of subheading 8465.20, the term ‘machining centres’ applies only to machine-tools for working wood, cork, bone, hard rubber, hard plastics or similar hard materials, which can carry out different types of machining operations by automatic tool change from a magazine or the like in conformity with a machining programme.”

Typewriters. Heading 8469 for typewriters is removed from the tariff schedule. Accordingly, typewriter parts and accessories are removed from classification under heading 8473, which now only covers parts and accessories (other than covers and cases) for use solely or principally which machines of headings 8470 to 8472 (calculators, automatic data processing machines, and “other” office machines).

Valves for oleohydraulic or pneumatic transmissions. New Subheading Note 3 is added to clarify classification under subheading 8481.20 for “valves for oleohydraulic or pneumatic transmissions”. The new subheading note says that, for the purposes of that subheading, “valves for oleohydraulic or pneumatic transmissions” means valves which are used specifically in the transmission of “fluid power” in a hydraulic or pneumatic system, where the energy source is supplied in the form of pressurized fluids (liquid or gas). “These valves may be of any type (for example, pressure-reducing type, check type). Subheading 8481.20 takes precedence over all other subheadings of heading 84.81,” says the new subheading note.

Electric accumulators. The 2017 HS clarifies the scope of heading 8507 for “electric accumulators” by providing that it covers electric accumulators “with ancillary components which contribute to the accumulator’s function of storing and supplying energy or protect it from damage, such as electrical connectors, temperature control devices (for example, thermistors) and circuit protection devices.” It also said electric accumulators classified in heading 8507 may “include a portion of the protective housing of the goods in which they are to be used.”

Multi-component integrated circuits. Multi-component integrated circuits are added to the tariff schedule’s definition of “electronic integrated circuits” under headings 8541 and 8542 alongside monolithic, hybrid, and multichip integrated circuits. A new section (b)(iv) to Note 8 (renumbered as Note 9) defines multi-component integrated circuits as “a combination of one or more monolithic, hybrid, or multi-chip integrated circuits with at least one of the following components: silicon-based sensors, actuators, oscillators, resonators or combinations thereof, or components performing the functions of articles classifiable under heading 85.32, 85.33, 85.41, or inductors classifiable under heading 85.04, formed to all intents and purposes indivisibly into a single body like an integrated circuit, as a component of a kind used for assembly onto a printed circuit board (PCB) or other carrier, through the connecting of pins, leads, balls, lands, bumps, or pads.”

Further definitions are added to clarify the terms “components” and “silicon based sensors, actuators, oscillators, resonators” in the new definition.

Monitors and projectors for computers. Subheadings for cathode-ray tube monitors (8528.42), other monitors (8528.52), and projectors (8528.62) in heading 8528 are changed so that they now include any that are “capable of directly connecting to and designed for use with an automatic data processing machine of heading 84.71”. Previously, monitors were only classifiable in these subheadings if they were “of a kind solely or principally used in an automatic data processing system”.

Light-emitting diode (LED) lamps. New subheading 8539.50 is added for LED lamps. The terms of heading 8539 is accordingly revised to include LED lamps.

(NOTE: The 2017 HS also revises several references in the tariff schedule to “light emitting diodes” so that they are now referred to as “light-emitting diodes (LED)”.

Vehicles and Other Transport Equipment

Similarly, the WCO also made modernizing changes for vehicles in the tariff schedule, including the addition of new subheadings for hybrid cars and buses.

Tractors. Subheading 8701.10 is renamed so it now refers to “single axle tractors” instead of “pedestrian controlled tractors”. The subheading for “other” tractors (i.e., not single axle, road tractors for semi-trailers or track-laying tractors) is broken out by engine power as follows:

• Other, of an engine power:
  • 8701.91 -- Not exceeding 18 kW
  • 8701.92 -- Exceeding 18 kW but not exceeding 37 kW
  • 8701.93 -- Exceeding 37 kW but not exceeding 75 kW
  • 8701.94 -- Exceeding 75 kW but not exceeding 130 kW
  • 8701.95 -- Exceeding 130 kW

Hybrid buses. New subheadings are added to heading 8702 for motor vehicles capable of transporting ten or more persons in order to capture electric and hybrid buses. The heading previously included only buses with compression-ignition diesel or semi-diesel engines (8702.10), and other buses (8702.90). In the 2017 HS, the heading is subdivided as follows:

• 8702.10 - With only compression-ignition internal combustion piston engine (diesel or semi-diesel)
• 8702.20 - With both compression-ignition internal combustion piston engine (diesel or semi-diesel) and electric motor as motors for propulsion
• 8702.30 - With both spark-ignition internal combustion reciprocating piston engine and electric motor as motors for propulsion
• 8702.40 - With only electric motor for propulsion

Hybrid cars. Similarly, new subheadings are added to heading 8703 to capture hybrid cars. Existing subheadings for conventional cars remain the same (except for a minor change to clarify that they only apply to cars that only have combustion engines). But new subheadings are added for hybrids as follows:

• 8703.40 - Other vehicles, with both spark-ignition internal combustion reciprocating piston engine and electric motor as motors for propulsion, other than those capable of being charged by plugging to external source of electric power
• 8703.50 - Other vehicles, with both compression-ignition internal combustion piston engine (diesel or semi-diesel) and electric motor as motors for propulsion, other than those capable of being charged by plugging to external source of electric power
• 8703.60 - Other vehicles, with both spark-ignition internal combustion reciprocating piston engine and electric motor as motors for propulsion, capable of being charged by plugging to external source of electric power
• 8703.70 - Other vehicles, with both compression-ignition internal combustion piston engine (diesel or semi-diesel) and electric motor as motors for propulsion, capable of being charged by plugging to external source of electric power
• 8703.80 - Other vehicles, with only electric motor for propulsion

Electric motorcycles. New subheading 8711.60 is added for motorcycles with an electric motor for propulsion.

Other Manufactured Articles and Furniture

Changes to other manufactured articles in Chapters 90-97 of the tariff schedule include more detailed provisions for bamboo and rattan furniture; clarification of what constitutes sports equipment versus sports apparel; and the addition of a new subheading for monopods, bipods and tripods in Chapter 96.

Cameras used with plates and cylinders. Subheading 9006.10 for “cameras of a kind used for preparing printing plates or cylinders” is removed from the 2017 HS.

Bamboo and rattan furniture. The 2017 HS makes several changes to introduce more detail into the classification of bamboo and rattan furniture. The subheading for bamboo and rattan seats (9401.51) is divided into individual subheadings for bamboo seats (9401.52) and rattan seats (9402.53). So is the subheading for bamboo and rattan furniture (9403.81), which is now divided into bamboo furniture (9403.82) and rattan furniture (9403.83).

Prefabricated buildings. Heading 9406 for prefabricated buildings is divided into subheadings for prefabricated buildings of wood (9406.10) and other prefabricated buildings (9406.90).

Sports apparel and equipment. Note 1(e) to Chapter 95, which previously said the chapter does not cover sports clothing or fancy dress of textiles, is amended to clarify the relationship between sports clothing and sports equipment. It now says sports clothing is apparel and isn't included in Chapter 95 “whether or not incorporating incidentally protective components such as pads or padding in the elbow, knee or groin areas (for example, fencing clothing or soccer goalkeeper jerseys)”.

­Monopods, bipods and tripods. New subheading 9620.00 is also added in Chapter 96 for “monopods, bipods, tripods and similar articles.” Accordingly, changes are made to Note 2(z) to Chapter 39, Note 1(q) to Chapter 44, Note 1(m) to Chapter 68, Note 1(m) to Section XV, Note 1(q) to Section XVI, Note 1(l) to Chapter 90, Note 1(d) to Chapter 92, Note 1(m) to Chapter 94, and Note 1(u) to Chapter 95 to clarify that “monopods, bipods, tripods and similar articles” are classified in heading 9620, and not as articles of plastic, wood, stone, machinery, photo/video/precision instruments, musical instruments, furniture, or games or sports equipment, respectively.