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.
A domestic labor union filed petitions on May 12 with the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission requesting new antidumping duty investigations on passenger vehicle and light truck tires from South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam, and new countervailing duties on the same product from Vietnam. Commerce will now decide whether to begin AD/CVD investigations on passenger vehicle and light truck tires that could eventually result in the assessment of AD/CV duties.
The Commerce Department issued Federal Register notices on its recently initiated antidumping duty investigations on prestressed concrete steel wire strand (PC strand) from Argentina (A-357-822), Colombia (A-301-804), Egypt (A-729-804), Indonesia (A-560-837), Italy (A-475-843), Malaysia (A-557-819), the Netherlands (A-421-814), Saudi Arabia (A-517-806), South Africa (A-791-826), Spain (A-469-821), Taiwan (A-583-868), Tunisia (A-723-001), Turkey (A-489-842), Ukraine (A-823-817), and the United Arab Emirates (A-520-809), and its recently initiated countervailing duty investigation on Turkey (C-489-843).
The Office of U.S. Trade Representative announced a new round of Section 301 tariff exclusions (see 2005110005) that includes some medical supplies that were included in the fourth tranche of tariffs.
The International Trade Commission recently issued two rapid-fire updates to the 2020 Harmonized Tariff Schedule. Revision 8 to the HTS implemented the suspension of Generalized System of Preferences treatment for many products from Thailand in response to labor rights violations (see 1910280044), effective April 25. Also on that update, the ITC implemented extensions to list 1 Section 301 tariff exclusions under U.S. Note 20(j), as announced in an April 10 notice from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (see 2004080011). In Revision 9, issued April 29, the ITC implemented a new set of Section 301 exclusions for products on list 3, as announced in a USTR notice issued April 24 (see 2004230010). The exclusions are found under U.S. Note 20(xx), and filed under 9903.88.45.
Increased CBP scrutiny on valuation, changes in tariff classification, and country of origin for products targeted in the U.S.-China trade war means companies need to be extra careful when doing tariff engineering or shifts in assembly locations, Sandler Travis lawyer Paula Connelly said, speaking on an April 28 webinar offered by the Coalition of New England Companies for Trade. Most of her presentation focused on establishing country of origin.
CBP created Harmonized System Update (HSU) 2004 on April 27, containing 8,983 Automated Broker Interface records and 1,845 Harmonized Tariff Schedule records, it said in a CSMS message. The update includes recent Section 301 tariff exclusions. The update also covers changes to the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program, including the removal of Thailand from the program, which took effect April 25 (see 1910280044).
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative granted iRobot an exclusion to the List 3 Section 301 tariffs on the robotic vacuum cleaners it imports from China under Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading 8508.11.00.00. iRobot applied for the exemption July 1 and based its argument partly on plans to shift production to Malaysia from China. It began producing entry-level vacuums in Malaysia in November, and said it will source additional models there later in 2020. The exclusion is retroactive to Sept. 24, 2018, when the List 3 tariffs took effect at 10%, and is valid through Aug. 7, 2020. The Trump administration hiked List 3 tariffs to 25% on March 2, 2019. iRobot’s was one of 107 exemptions granted for “specially prepared product descriptions” covering 157 “separate exclusion requests,” USTR said (see 2004230010). iRobot is “pleased that the USTR determined that our rationale for an exclusion was appropriate, particularly in light of the tangible steps we have taken to establish our manufacturing activities in Malaysia,” CEO Colin Angle said in an email. “As the largest American pure-play robotics company, with over 800 U.S.-based employees and roughly half of our revenue generated domestically, we believe that an exclusion not only further supports iRobot's ability to maintain its technological and category leadership but it also helps ensure that robotics is an industry in which the U.S. continues to lead the world.”
Three U.S. manufacturers seek the imposition of new antidumping duties on prestressed concrete steel wire strand from Argentina, Egypt, Colombia, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, the Netherlands, South Africa, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Tunisia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Ukraine, and new countervailing duties on PC strand from Turkey, they said in a petition filed with the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission April 15. Commerce will now decide whether to begin AD/CVD investigations, which could result in the imposition of permanent AD/CV duty orders and the assessment of AD and CV duties on importers.
The International Trade Commission recently issued two revisions to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule, largely to implement changes that had been previously announced to exclusions from Section 301 tariffs on goods from China and changes to tariffs on goods from the European Union imposed as part of the large civil aircraft dispute. Both revisions were issued by the ITC in March.