The National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America, the National Retail Federation and 50 other trade groups in various industries want the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to “immediately make public” the details of the process it will use to add more Chinese-sourced products to the proposed 25 percent tariffs list, they said in comments dated May 22. “We strongly believe there needs to be additional public input for any products that USTR is considering adding to the proposed list,” said the comments, which also were signed by the Consumer Technology Association, the Toy Association and the Home Furnishings Association.
Harmonized Tariff Schedule
The Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) is a reference manual that provides 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 the Customs and Border Protection of the Department of Homeland Security is responsible for interpreting and enforcing the HTS.
Two U.S. manufacturers filed a petition on May 21 with the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission requesting new antidumping duties on steel propane cylinders from China, Taiwan and Thailand, and new countervailing duties on steel propane cylinders from China. Commerce will now decide whether to begin AD/CVD investigations on steel propane cylinders that could eventually result in the assessment of AD/CV duties. The petition was filed by two U.S. manufacturers, Worthington Industries and Manchester Tank & Equipment Co.
CBP provided an update "on remaining annual quota quantities for Korean steel imports as of May 7" in QB 18-120. A May 14 quota status report lists three additional Korean steel quota categories that were filled since May 7, bringing the total number of filled quotas to 12. The harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) subheadings for the filled quotas are:
Chinese drugmakers and device makers, U.S. device makers that import Chinese components, and the distributors who sell supplies to hospitals and government agencies all asked the Section 301 panel to spare the healthcare sector from 25 percent tariffs on Chinese imports. The testimony came on the last of three days of hearings by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative as the panel works to refine a list of 1,300 tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese goods. Witnesses said these Chinese items do not necessarily follow China's industrial policy of forced tech transfer or its efforts to leapfrog into more advanced manufacturing. Linda Rouse O'Neill, vice president of government affairs for the Health Industry Distributors Association, said tariffs aren't just going to be an economic drag on the healthcare system. "It's really going to exacerbate product shortages," she said. "We already don't have enough personal protective equipment."
The Commerce Department issued notices in the Federal Register on its recently initiated antidumping and countervailing duty investigations on quartz surface products from China (A-570-084/C-570-085). The CV duty investigation covers entries Jan. 1, 2017, through Dec. 31, 2017. The AD duty investigation covers entries Oct. 1, 2017, through March 31, 2018.
The process for importers to get product exclusions from Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum items is too slow, and too burdensome, according to 39 members of the House of Representatives, from both parties, who have suggestions for how to change it. Their letter, sent May 7 to the Department of Commerce, says that retroactive relief from tariffs should date back to the date of submission, not the date of posting, unless the submission was not initially complete. In that case, the lawmakers say, the refund should be from the date the submission was complete, rather than the date it was publicly posted.
Polymer Technology Systems (PTS) filed a Section 337 complaint April 30 seeking a ban on imports of blood cholesterol testing strips imported by ACON. PTS says the Mission Cholesterol Monitoring System imported and sold by ACON Laboratories and its affiliate ACON Biotech (Hangzhou) Co., Ltd. infringe patents associated with PTS’s CardioChek cholesterol test strip system. The accused products come in under Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheadings 9027.80.4530 and 9027.50.4015. The complaint requests that the International Trade Commission issue a limited exclusion order and cease and desist orders banning importation and sale of infringing systems by ACON. The ITC seeks comments on PTS’s complaint by May 15.
The International Trade Commission released Revision 4 to the 2018 Harmonized Tariff Schedule, making several changes related to recently imposed Section 232 tariffs on aluminum and iron and steel products. The updated tariff schedule includes a series of new tariff subheadings in chapter 99 used to administer quotas on South Korean steel that form part of that country’s exemption agreement, as well as new language in the subchapter notes to chapter 99 on the Section 232 tariffs. The changes took effect May 1.
Though a new accounting class code will be implemented April 28 in ACE for duties on coffee imported into Puerto Rico, shipments from the continental U.S. to Puerto Rico, which are still subject to the duties, will continue to be presented as non-Automated Broker Interface entry summaries on Customs Form 7501, CBP said in a CSMS message. The duties, in effect since the 1930s, cover coffee imports into Puerto Rico under Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) heading 0901 and subheadings 2101.11-2101.12, 2202.99.28 and 2202.99.90, and amount to $2.50 per pound on regular coffee and $1.25 per dutiable pound on coffee preparations, CBP says on its website. The issue of filing domestic shipments came up during CBP’s April 26 biweekly ACE call. The new accounting class code is only meant to automate imports of coffee from foreign countries, which have up to now been filed non-ABI, a CBP official said. The automation will allow CBP to pull out and calculate the Puerto Rico coffee duty separate from regular import tariffs, she said.
The European Union will require additional customs duties on U.S. sweetcorn, women's trousers, crane lorries and metal glasses frames in response to Byrd amendment collections, the European Commission said in a notice published in the Official Journal on April 24. "As a result of the United States' failure to bring the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act (CDSOA) in compliance with its obligations under the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements," the EC imposed an additional 0.3 percent duty on those products. CBP continues to distribute antidumping and countervailing duties under CDSOA even though that law has been repealed.