Harmonized Tariff Schedule

The U.S. Department of Agriculture revised the appendices to its Dairy Tariff-Rate Import Quota Licensing Regulation for the 2017 tariff-rate quota year, in a final rule that takes effect Sept. 13. USDA is making the changes to reflect the cumulative annual transfers from Appendix 1 to Appendix 2 for certain dairy product import licenses permanently surrendered by licensees or revoked by the Foreign Agricultural Service.

The Foreign Agricultural Service will charge a fee of $300 for the 2018 tariff-rate quota (TRQ) year for each license issued to a person or firm by the U.S. Department of Agriculture authorizing the importation of certain dairy articles that are subject to tariff-rate quotas set forth in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule, it said. The new fee represents an increase of $50 from last year's fee of $250 for 2017 TRQ licenses (see 1608230010).

The Commerce Department issued Federal Register notices on its recently initiated antidumping and countervailing duty investigations on stainless steel flanges from India and China (A-533-877/C-533-878, A-570-064/C-570-065).

CBP and other agencies involved in trade still have some ways to go before resolving an ongoing debate on how to describe goods in Section 321 shipments, said Christa Brzozowski, deputy assistant secretary for trade and transport at the Department of Homeland Security, at the U.S. Air Cargo Industry Affairs Summit Sept. 6 in Washington. The government still needs to work through process issues related to what goods are eligible for expedited release, and what role partner government agencies (PGAs) will have in the process, before considering whether to require 10-digit Harmonized Tariff Schedule numbers or written descriptors, she said.

The Commerce Department issued Federal Register notices on its recently initiated antidumping and countervailing duty investigations on uncoated groundwood paper from Canada (A-122-861/C-122-862). The agency will determine whether imports of Canadian groundwood paper are being sold in the U.S. at less than fair value or are illegally subsidized. The CV duty investigation covers entries Jan. 1, 2016, through Dec. 31, 2016. The AD duty investigation covers entries July 1, 2016, through June 30, 2017.

Titanium Metals Corporation (TIMET) filed a petition on Aug. 24 with the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission requesting new antidumping and countervailing duties on titanium sponge from Kazakhstan, and new antidumping duties on titanium sponge from Japan. Commerce will now decide whether to begin AD/CVD investigations on titanium sponge that could eventually result in the assessment of AD/CV duties.

The Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee approved recommendations on filing of Fish and Wildlife Service-regulated commodities in ACE, including on the agency’s upcoming pilot and a desired trusted trader program, at its Aug. 23 meeting in San Diego. The recommendations, which include short-term advice for the FWS ACE pilot as well as long-term guidance on FWS filing in general, were put forth by a COAC FWS working group created after the agency suspended its ACE pilot in January in response to industry concerns (see 1701190011). FWS has said it will take the recommendations into account when it updates its ACE implementation guide in October (see 1708160036).

Multiple recommendations submitted by the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) for Section 321 entries proved to be contentious, eliciting disagreement among members during the Aug. 23 COAC meeting in San Diego. The presentation of the recommendations at the meeting included the unusual step of votes and discussions on each individual recommendation. While some of the recommendations faced opposition, all were ultimately approved by the COAC. "There's a lot of uncertainty in this area because it's a new and different model that was not necessarily envisioned or anticipated by the market, by those that are participating in it or by our government partners," said Cindy Allen, the co-chair of the Trade Modernization Subcommittee.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is adding Togo to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) list of countries eligible to import textiles and apparel under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), USTR said. Effective Aug. 22, USTR is adding Togo to HTS Chapter 98, Subchapter II, U.S. note 7(a), and to Subchapter XIX, U.S. notes 1 and 2(d), which will make it possible for textile and apparel imports from that country to receive AGOA benefits. The modifications will apply to articles entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption on Aug. 22 and beyond. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer announced the U.S. was granting Togo a textile and apparel visa authorizing AGOA benefits earlier this month (see 1708090010).

CBP posted draft recommendations from the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) e-commerce working group on Section 321 entries ahead of the COAC meeting on Aug. 23 in San Diego. The recommendations "are intended to improve the import process from a facilitation and enforcement perspective for section 321-eligible shipments across all modes of transportation," the working group said. CBP issued an interim final rule on the de minimis level last year and raised a number of questions on the role of other agencies' requirements for such shipments (see 1608250029).