The Commerce Department issued Federal Register notices on its recently initiated antidumping and countervailing duty investigations on ripe olives from Spain (A-469-817, C-469-818).
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.
The Treasury Department published an updated 2017 regulatory agenda for CBP (here) that mentions several new rulemakings that weren't included in the last update (see 1611180003). The agenda includes a newly mentioned proposal for updates and modifications to the (a)(1)(A) list of records required for the entry of merchandise (here). That list is included within the appendix to 19 CFR Part 163 (here). CBP seeks to publish the proposal in October, according to the agenda.
CBP is extending the comment period to Aug. 14 on an existing information collection for cost submissions. CBP proposes (here) to extend the expiration date of this information collection with no change to the information collected or to the estimated burden hours associated with the collection.
The U.S. Census Bureau updated the Automated Export System for the July 1, 2017, version of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) and Schedule B (here), the agency said. Changes to Schedule B include the breakout of certain Schedule B numbers for fruit preparations and vegetables into certified organic and homogenized designations for both commodities, as well as a breakout for electric generating sets into electric generating sets powered by gas turbines and electric generating sets other than powered by gas turbines (here). Census also released concordances for import (here) and export codes (here). Census said that AES will accept shipments with outdated codes for a 30-day grace period beyond the expiration date of June 30, 2017, after which reporting an outdated code will result in a fatal error. The legacy AESDirect system has been updated with the new codes and will accept the outdated codes during the grace period as well, Census said.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
The International Trade Commission on July 1 posted revisions to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (here). The new HTS implements the results of the U.S. Trade Representative's 2016-17 review of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), adding several "travel goods" to the program for all GSP beneficiaries. The ITC is also implementing the second round of tariff cuts under the expanded World Trade Organization Information Technology Agreement, adding new tariff numbers for a variety of products, including cuts of beef, and removing outdated classification provisions for jadeite and rubies. All changes take effect July 1, unless otherwise specified.
International Trade Today is again providing a table of changes to tariffs in the HTS for certain products as a result of implementation of the Expanded World Trade Organization Information Technology Agreement (see 1607010056 and 1607050003). The second set of staged tariff reductions took effect July 1, and were implemented in Revision 1 to the 2017 Harmonized Tariff Schedule (see 1707030037). While tariffs on many products were eliminated completely when the agreement took effect in July 2016, other products subject to expanded ITA will see tariffs phased out over a three-year period, with tariffs eventually reduced to zero in 2019.
The Timken Company filed a petition on June 27 with the Commerce Department and International Trade Commission, asking for new antidumping duties on tapered roller bearings from South Korea. Commerce will now decide whether to begin an AD duty investigation on tapered roller bearings from South Korea. Duties would come on top of an existing AD duty order on tapered roller bearings from China.
Nan Ya Plastics America filed a petition on June 26 with the Commerce Department and International Trade Commission requesting new antidumping duties on low-melt polyester staple fiber from South Korea and Taiwan. Commerce will now decide whether to begin an AD duty investigation on low-melt polyester staple fiber, which is used in conjunction with other fibers to form a formable material used in automotive headliners, floors, trunks and engine hoods, where padding or barriers for insulation must fit precisely while maintaining a specific shape for long durations, the petition said.
The Commerce Department issued Federal Register notices on its recently initiated antidumping duty investigations on citric acid and certain citrate salts from Belgium (A-423-813), Colombia (A-301-803) and Thailand (A-549-833), and its recently initiated countervailing duty investigation on citric acid and certain citrate salts from Thailand (C-549-834).