On Monday, September 15, 2008, the President signed into law H.R. 6532, which transfers $8.017 billion to the Highway Trust Fund from the Treasury General Fund. (White House statement, dated 09/15/08, available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/09/20080915-11.html.)
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.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted the agenda, presentations, and materials used during the September 8 - 11, 2008 meeting of the Trade Support Network (TSN) held in Tyson's Corner, VA.
In February 2008, the U.S. and its five partners in the U.S.-Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) agreed to provide Costa Rica additional time, until October 1, 2008, to complete the legislative and regulatory steps required to join DR-CAFTA.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has issued a notice announcing the fourteen products that are accepted for further review and nine country practice petitions that were filed or are ongoing for the 2008 Generalized System of Preferences Annual Review and setting forth the schedule for these petitions.
The Port of Long Beach reports that a U.S. District Court judge refused Monday, September 8, 2008, to stop the Port of Long Beach's Clean Trucks Program, which begins October 1st. The American Trucking Association had sought a preliminary injunction to block the Port from using a concession system to require trucking firms to dispatch only clean trucks to the Port and dispatch only drivers who have undergone a security background check and obtained a federal Transportation Worker Identification Credential. (LB port press release available at http://www.polb.com/news/displaynews.asp?NewsID=445&targetid=1 )
The International Trade Administration has issued a notice soliciting applications from persons1 who weave certain worsted wool fabrics in the U.S suitable for making men's and boys' suits for an allocation of the 2009 tariff rate quota on certain worsted wool fabric.
The International Trade Administration has issued a notice soliciting applications from persons1 who cut and sew men's and boys' worsted wool suits, suit-like jackets, and trousers in the U.S. for an allocation of the 2009 tariff rate quotas on certain worsted wool fabric.
Broker Power is able to provide quota prices (generally twice a month) for a limited number of textile and apparel categories from the People's Republic of China that are subject to "agreed quotas" and publicly traded. (These publicly traded quota prices have been provided by a Hong Kong quota broker.)
The Office of Textiles and Apparel has posted its monthly monitoring data for certain apparel products imported from Vietnam for May and June 2008.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued a notice providing a list of 10-digit Harmonized Tariff Schedule tariff numbers containing products that may be subject to the Softwood Lumber Act of 2008 (SLA 2008).