ITC Details Upcoming Changes to 2022 Tariff Schedule
The International Trade Commission published a new report detailing its recommended changes to the 2022 Harmonized Tariff Schedule, mostly to implement upcoming changes in the new year to the World Customs Organization’s Harmonized System nomenclature. Changes adopted as a result of these final recommendations will take effect Jan. 1, 2022.
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“The recommended HTS amendments relate to a wide range of products and product groups, including, for example: flat panel display modules; 3D printers; unmanned aerial vehicles (i.e., drones); electric vehicles; tobacco products intended for inhalation without combustion; edible insect products; virgin and extra virgin olive oil; cell therapy products; rapid diagnostic test kits for detecting the Zika virus and other mosquito-borne diseases; placebos and double-blinded clinical trial kits; electronic waste (e-waste) and other hazardous waste; amusement park equipment; and cultural articles (i.e., antiquities),” the ITC said in its accompanying news release.
“Following the receipt and consideration of the views of interested federal agencies and the public, the Commission is submitting its recommendations to the President in the form of a report that includes a summary of the information on which the recommendations were based, together with a statement of the probable economic effect of each recommended change on any industry in the United States,” the ITC said in the introduction to the report. “The report includes a copy of the written views of interested parties.”
Before any changes take effect, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will submit a report to the relevant committees in Congress -- House Ways and Means and Senate Finance -- with recommended modifications and the reasons for making them. "Following expiration of a 60-day layover period before the Congress, the President is authorized to proclaim the modifications to the HTS," the ITC said in its news release.
Changes to some 350 products stem from the WCO HS changes set to take effect worldwide at the beginning of the year. The report includes recommended text to implement the changes, as well as a concurrence table showing current tariff subheadings and where they would fall under the new recommendations.
The report also details tariff schedule changes for blanched peanuts. “The modification would implement a recent WCO classification opinion and thereby conform the HTS with the Harmonized System,” the report said. “The WCO decided that blanching peanuts to remove their skin did not constitute roasting or otherwise cooking,” the report said. “The WCO concluded that the heat treatment of blanching peanuts was mainly designed to remove the skin and ensure better preservation and that it did not alter the character of the peanuts as a raw or natural product. Accordingly, the WCO concluded that blanched peanuts are more properly classifiable as raw or natural products in heading 1202 and should not be classified as prepared or preserved peanuts in heading 2008.”