Recent trade-related bills introduced in Congress include:
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 Commerce Department made a preliminary affirmative antidumping determination that non-oriented electrical steel (NOES) from Germany (A-428-843) is being sold in the U.S. at less than fair value. The agency found "critical circumstances" for CD Walzholz and Thyssenkrupp, and will impose retroactive AD duty cash requirements on entries from those companies effective Feb. 21. For all other Germany companies, AD duty cash deposit requirements will take effect May 22.
The Commerce Department made a preliminary affirmative antidumping determination that non-oriented electrical steel (GOES) from South Korea (A-580-872) and Taiwan (A-583-851) is being sold in the U.S. at less than fair value. The agency will impose AD duty cash requirements on entries of NOES from South Korea ad Taiwan effective May 22.
The Commerce Department made a preliminary affirmative antidumping determination that non-oriented electrical steel (NOES) from China (A-570-996), Japan (A-588-872) and Sweden (A-401-809) is being sold in the U.S. at less than fair value. Due to a finding of "critical circumstances," the agency will impose retroactive AD duty cash requirements on entries of NOES from China, Japan and Sweden effective Feb. 21.
CBP issued a final rule, effective June 20, to amend its regulations for the preferential tariff treatment and other customs-related provisions of the U.S.-Panama Trade Promotion Agreement (PATPA or PANTPA). The agency issued interim regulations last year (see 13102215) and will adopt them in full as a final rule, without any changes, it said. CBP received only one comment in response to the interim rule.
The Commerce Department issued Federal Register notices on its recently initiated antidumping and countervailing duty investigations on 53-foot domestic dry containers from China (A-570-014/C-570-015). The agency will determine whether imports of the intermodal shipping containers are being sold in the U.S. at less than fair value or illegally subsidized.
Cuprammonium rayon filament yarns recently added to the list of items not available in commercial quantities in a timely manner under Appendix 4-B-1 of the U.S.-South Korea Free Trade Agreement (see 14041715) may be imported as a short supply item as of April 18, said CBP in a memo to port directors and office of field operations. The filament yarns, which are classified in Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading 5403.39, can be entered under heading 9920.95.00 as long as the goods meet the requirements of Note 5 of Chapter 99, subchapter XX, said the memo. Such goods are subject to quantitative limits and must be entered according to QB 14-131 (here), said CBP.
There's about a $6.8 billion difference the between the reported export values of art and antiquities coming from the United Kingdom and the import values in the U.S. with the same Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) classification from 2009-2013, according to data compiled by Ricardo St. Hilaire, a lawyer who specializes in cultural heritage issues. The different values "should prompt both American and British customs authorities to investigate the reasons behind the export-import rift," he said in a blog post. The U.K. was the top exporter of archaeological, historical, and ethnological material to the U.S. in 2013
The International Trade Commission released its fifth annual compilation of biweekly data on textile and apparel imports from China for 2007-2013. The data in the report are shown on an annual and quarterly basis, by category and by Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) 10-digit numbers. It consists of a series of tables which provide Chinese textile and apparel import statistics, including: import value by category and HTS number; Chinese market share; quantity of imports from China; unit value of imports from China; unit value of imports from the world.
CBP is requesting comments by July 8 for an existing information collection for entry summaries. CBP proposes to extend the expiration date of this information collection with no change to the burden hours.