In the September 7, 2011 issue of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Bulletin (Vol. 45, No. 37), CBP published a notice stating that it is withdrawing its revocation of three rulings concerning the tariff classification of motorized utility vehicles under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule. CBP is also withdrawing its intent to revoke any treatment previously accorded by CBP to substantially identical transactions.
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 following summary details U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s final rule, effective October 3, 2011, to implement the changes it proposed in 2008 to the 19 CFR 102 country of origin tariff shift and other rules (often referred to as the NAFTA origin Marking Rules1) for certain pipe fittings and flanges, greeting cards, glass optical fiber, rice preparations, and textile and apparel products.
The Agricultural Marketing Services has issued a final rule amending the Cotton Board Rules and Regulations to increase the supplemental assessment rate for imported cotton. This final rule also revises the textile trade conversion factors used to determine the raw fiber equivalents of imported cotton-containing products and expands the number of HTS numbers subject to assessment.
In the August 24, 2011 issue of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Bulletin (Vol. 45, No. 35), CBP published a notice on its modification of a ruling and similar treatment pertaining to the definition of “cut” in the term "cut but not set" as it is used in Chapter 71 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule.
In the August 24, 2011 issue of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Bulletin (Vol. 45, No. 35), CBP published two notices that propose to revoke or modify ten rulings regarding the tariff classification of hulled pumpkin seeds and antibiotic drug Azithromycin.
The International Trade Administration has made available on the Export.gov web site a FTA Tariff Tool, which allows users to see how U.S. and free trade agreement partner tariffs on individual products—searchable by keyword or tariff code—are treated under an FTA. Users can also see the current tariff and future tariffs applied to their products, as well as the date on which those products become duty-free.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued a proposed rule to amend its regulations (19 CFR Parts 10 and 163) pertaining to the filing of documentation related to free entry of certain merchandise under Chapter 98 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is announcing an additional 30 day comment period for the proposed extension of its existing Certificate of Origin (CBP Form 3229) information collection, which it plans to submit to the Office of Management and Budget for review and approval.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted a notice announcing that the next customs broker license exam will be held on Monday, October 3, 2011.
In June 2011, the World Customs Organization announced that it was close to finalizing its work to implement the 2012 version of the international Harmonized System (HS) Nomenclature, which will take effect on January 1. WCO is also now seeking comments on its 5th cycle of revisions of the HS for 2017.