U.S. Customs and Border Protection has adopted as final, with two minor technical corrections1, its interim rule that amended 19 CFR to implement the preferential tariff treatment and other customs-related provisions of the U.S.-Bahrain Free Trade Agreement (BFTA), as it received no comments on its interim rule.
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 an antidumping duty investigation to determine whether imports of certain tow-behind lawn groomers and certain parts thereof from China are being, or are likely to be, sold in the U.S. at less than fair value, and a countervailing duty investigation to determine whether manufacturers, producers, or exporters of subject merchandise in China receive countervailable subsidies.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted guidance on the classification of decorative light fixtures in accordance with the June 2007 U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) decision in Home Depot, USA v. U.S., that certain lighting fixtures could not be classified without considering all of their components.
The International Trade Commission has released the public version of its report on the probable economic effect of accelerated tariff elimination for certain vegetables and grape juice from Chile under the U.S.-Chile Free Trade Agreement (UCFTA).
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted a notice entitled Notice of Examination: October 2008 Customs Broker License Examination, which announces that the next customs broker license exam will be held on Monday, October 6, 2008.
The International Trade Commission has issued its determination on the extent to which denim fabric manufactured in African Growth and Opportunity Act beneficiary countries was used by lesser developed beneficiary AGOA countries1 (AGOA LDBCs) in the production of duty-free apparel that entered the U.S. during fiscal year 2007.
On July 10, 2008, the Senate Appropriations Committee ordered favorably reported a bill to make fiscal year 2009 appropriations for the Department of Transportation, Department of Housing and Urban Development, and related agencies. (Congressional Record, dated 07/10/08, available at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/B?r110:@FIELD(FLD003d)@FIELD(DDATE20080710)
On July 10, 2008, the International Trade Administration published its final affirmative antidumping duty determination that raw flexible magnets from Taiwan are being, or are likely to be, sold in the U.S. at less than fair value.
CBP has issued the June 2008 ACE Trade Account Owner monthly update as an attachment to an ACE Portal Accounts CSMS message. The update covers the following topics: the introduction of ACE "ad hoc" reporting capabilities, new contact information for the technology support center, ACE Account Revenue report enhancements, the posting of the "draft" M1 version of the CAMIR (Amendment 11) and X12 transaction sets, and new features that will be available in ACE with the deployment of ACE A2.1/M1 Ocean and Rail e-Manifest. (June 2008 TAO update available at http://apps.cbp.gov/csms/docs/17122_1004847298/June_2008_TAO_V4.pdf.)
The International Trade Administration has made a final affirmative countervailing duty determination that countervailable subsidies are being provided to producers and exporters of raw flexible magnets (RFM) from China.