U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued a memorandum which contains instructions on the retroactive application of the preferential tariff provisions1 of the U.S. - Dominican Republic - Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) to qualifying textile or apparel goods of eligible DR-CAFTA countries that were entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption on or after January 1, 2004 and before April 1, 2006, the DR-CAFTA's effective date for Nicaragua and Honduras.
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 (CBP) has issued a Customs Bulletin notice advising interested parties that, effective April 5, 2006, CBP is limiting the application of the decisions of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) and the Court of International Trade (CIT) in Park B. Smith Ltd. vs. U.S. (Park) to the specific cotton woven table linen and cotton woven dhurry rug entries before the courts in that litigation.1
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has posted to its Web site a revised version of its requirements for the electronic rulings (eRulings) program, in order to provide guidance on the information that would be helpful to include in an eRuling request.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a notice announcing that the U.S. intends to initiate negotiations with Malaysia on a free trade agreement (FTA). (See ITT's Online Archives or 03/13/06 news, 06031399 4, for BP summary of USTR's press release announcing its Congressional notification on this matter.)
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued two notices on the CAFTA-DR tariff rate quotas (TRQs) that are in effect for the April 1, 2006 - December 31, 2006 period for certain "qualifying" agricultural products (including sugar) from Honduras or Nicaragua.
On March 31, 2006, President Bush issued Proclamation 7996 to amend the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS), etc., to implement the U.S. - Dominican Republic -Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) for Honduras and Nicaragua.
The International Trade Commission (ITC) has posted to its Web site an April 1, 2006 version of the 2006 Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the U.S. (HTS). The April 1, 2006 version of the HTS (Revision 2) reflects the changes necessary to implement the U.S. - Central America - Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) for Honduras and Nicaragua.
On March 31, 2006, President Bush issued Proclamation 7996 to amend the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS), etc., to implement the U.S. - Dominican Republic -Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) for Honduras and Nicaragua.
The International Trade Commission (ITC) has issued a notice announcing that, following a request from the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), it has instituted an investigation in order to provide advice concerning the probable economic effect of providing duty-free treatment for imports under a free trade agreement (FTA) with Malaysia, and will seek input through a public hearing on April 19, 2006.