The Commerce Department issued a Federal Register notice on its recently initiated antidumping duty investigation on large residential washers from China (A-570-033) (here). The agency will determine whether imports of washing machines from China are being sold in the U.S. at less than fair value. The period of investigation is April 1, 2015, through Sept. 30, 2015.
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 Obama administration hopes the Trans-Pacific Partnership will be implemented by the end of January 2018, though several hurdles remain, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman told industry officials on Jan. 8 during a roundtable at CES in Las Vegas. TPP legislation must first pass the U.S. Congress, where an anti-TPP coalition recently formed, as well as several other countries’ governments, where signing the agreement into law requires more “gambles” than for this country, he said. “For a lot of countries, these obligations require them to make some sort of gamble—deal changes, changes in regulation—not so much for the United States, but we want to make sure they go through that process,” he said.
The International Trade Commission recently released the 2016 edition of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (here). Chapters 50-99 include corrections to tariff treatment for certain free trade agreements and the removal of tariff provisions for cathode-ray tube televisions. New statistical suffixes are being added for e-cigarettes, mattresses, and products subject to the tariff-rate quota on sugars, syrups and molasses. Most changes took effect Jan. 1.
The International Trade Commission recently released the 2016 edition of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (here). The new HTS implements a recent presidential proclamation that terminated benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act for Burundi (see 1512220025). Other changes include the addition of several new schedule B numbers for heavy fuel oils, the addition of new tariff numbers for veal and vaping liquids, and a lower duty rate for some wood flooring panels. Most changes took effect Jan. 1.
President Barack Obama modified the U.S. harmonized tariff schedule through a Dec. 23 presidential proclamation (here). Tax extender legislation included with the omnibus appropriations bill gives the President the authority to "reduce any rate of duty on certain environmental goods included in Annex C of the APEC Leaders Declaration issued on September 9, 2012, if (and only if) the President" notifies "Congress of the negotiations relating to the agreement and the specific United States objectives in the negotiations” (see 1512170013).
CBP is requesting comments by Feb. 22 on an existing information collection for duty free holders or containers. CBP proposes (here) to extend the expiration date of this information collection without a change to the burden hours or information collected.
The World Customs Organization released an outline of the origin provisions within the Trans-Pacific Partnership (here). The overview is "part of the Comparative study on Preferential Rules of Origin" and the WCO plans to eventually release a more detailed version, it said (here). The main topics covered by the TPP on origin procedures relate to certification of origin, claims for preferential tariff treatment and origin verification, it said. Provisions in the TPP for originating goods include regional value content and de minimis. The agreement includes a wide range of customs provisions, many of which are meant to modernize customs processing among the TPP members (see 1511050020).
The Commerce Department issued Federal Register notices on its recently initiated antidumping duty investigations on iron mechanical transfer drive components from China and Canada (A-570-032, A-122-856), and countervailing duty investigations on iron mechanical drive components from China (C-570-031)
The Commerce Department issued Federal Register notices on its recently initiated antidumping duty investigations on circular welded carbon-quality steel pipe from Oman (A-523-812), Pakistan (A-535-903), the Philippines (A-565-803), the United Arab Emirates (A-520-807), and Vietnam (A-552-820), and countervailing duty investigations on circular welded pipe from Pakistan (C-535-904).
CBP said it created Harmonized System Update (HSU) 1509 on Nov. 16, containing 22,076 ABI records and 3,618 harmonized tariff records. The update includes annual special program staged rate reductions, said CBP (here). Adjustments required for the verification of the 2015 Harmonized Tariff Schedule are also included, CBP said in a CSMS message. The modified records can be retrieved electronically via the procedures indicated in the CATAIR. Further information: Jennifer Keeling, Jennifer.Keeling@dhs.gov.