CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
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 early submissions to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on whether the 7.5% and 25% tariffs on Chinese goods should continue were heavily against continuing the action. More than 90% of the 27 submissions either said end all the tariffs or urged dropping the ones that affect businesses or workers.
Exclusions from Section 301 China tariffs for 81 medical care products related to COVID-19 will be extended until the end of February 2023, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said in a pre-publication notice released Nov. 23. The exclusions had been set to expire Nov. 30.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Nov. 14-20:
Seventeen styles of fabrics are not excluded from 10% Section 301 duties because they do not qualify as microfibers or microdeniers, CBP said in a Sept. 8 ruling, recently released publicly.
The Commerce Department issued notices in the Federal Register on its recently initiated antidumping duty investigations on paper file folders from China, India and Vietnam (A-570-147, A-533-910, A-552-834), and its countervailing duty investigation on the same product from India (C-533-911). The CV duty investigation covers entries Jan. 1, 2021, through Dec. 31, 2021. The AD duty investigations on China and Vietnam cover entries April 1, 2022, through Sept. 30, 2022, and the AD duty investigation on India covers the period Oct. 1, 2021, through Sept. 30, 2022.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the weeks of Oct. 31 - Nov. 6 and Nov. 7-13:
CBP issued a final rule updating its Part 102 rules of origin to account for recent changes to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the U.S., in particular the World Customs Organization’s major five-year updates implemented in 2017 and 2022.
Major automakers and battery makers disagreed about how granular the EV battery supply chain rules should be, but most agreed that diverging from the battery timeline requirement, which begins in 2023, would allow far more vehicles to qualify for tax credits, thereby accelerating adoption of cleaner cars, trucks and SUVs.
The Agricultural Marketing Service seeks comments on how it should update Harmonized Tariff Schedule numbers subject to importer assessments under the paper and paper-based packaging marketing order, it said in a notice released Nov. 4. AMS is also proposing to update the marketing order so that changes to tariff schedule numbers can be made more easily in the future. Comments are due Dec. 7.