The Office of the United States Trade Representative has released a preliminary comparison of the pending U.S.-Korea (KORUS) Free Trade Agreement with the recently initialed European Union-Korea FTA.
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 International Trade Administration has initiated antidumping duty investigations to determine whether imports of certain coated paper suitable for high-quality print graphics using sheet-fed presses from China and Indonesia are being, or are likely to be, sold in the U.S. at less than fair value.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission has issued a report to Congress outlining the actions it is taking to strengthen its oversight of imported products. The report is in response to recommendations made by the Government Accountability Office in an August 2009 report on CPSC. (Report, dated October 2009, available at http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/GAOresponse.pdf )
The International Trade Administration has initiated a countervailing duty investigation to determine whether manufacturers, producers, or exporters of seamless pipe in the China receive countervailable subsidies.
The International Trade Administration has initiated an antidumping duty investigation to determine whether certain seamless carbon and alloy steel standard, line, and pressure pipe from China is being, or is likely to be, sold in the U.S. at less than fair value.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission held an open meeting on October 7, 2009 to discuss the:
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued a memorandum regarding the North American Free Trade Agreement rules of origin that were modified by Presidential Proclamation 8405.
The International Trade Commission has posted to its Web site an updated version of Supplement 1 of the 2009 Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the U.S. (HTS) dated October 2, 20091 (Supplement 1, Revision 1).
The International Trade Commission has announced that is updating its online "Supplement I" version of the 2009 Harmonized Tariff Schedule. ITC sources state that they expect this update to be incorporated into the online HTS on either September 25, 2009 or September 28, 2009.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued a final rule, effective September 25, 2009, which makes technical corrections to provisions in 19 CFR Part 148 that set forth personal duty exemption amounts, in order to conform the regulations to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS). (CBP final rule, CBP Dec. 09-37, FR Pub 09/25/09. available at http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/pdf/E9-23158.pdf.