The country of origin of sticky notes made from big rolls of paper that are cut in Taiwan is based on the origin of the rolls of paper, CBP said in a Feb. 18 ruling. The cutting of the paper and adding of glue is not considered to be a substantial transformation, the agency said. Staples requested its ruling through David Newman, a lawyer representing the company.
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 Commission recently issued Revision 5 to the 2020 Harmonized Tariff Schedule. The new version implements recent changes to Section 301 tariffs on the European Union related to the Boeing-Airbus dispute at the World Trade Organization (see 2002180040). New subheading 9903.89.52 is added for newly tariffed knives from the United Kingdom and Germany. Subheading 9903.89.05 should be amended to increase the tariff on new airplanes from France, Germany, Spain and the U.K. from 10% to 15%, but the change was not actually made in the tariff schedule. Notes 21(a), (g) and (q) are amended to reflect the changes, including the removal of a classification for blended Scotch and Irish whiskies that carried no additional duty. These changes took effect March 5.
A coalition of U.S. manufacturers seeks the imposition of new antidumping duties on common alloy aluminum sheet from Bahrain, Brazil, Croatia, Egypt, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Italy, South Korea, Oman, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Taiwan and Turkey, and new countervailing duties on common alloy aluminum sheet from Bahrain, Brazil, India and Turkey, it said in a petition filed with the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission March 7. 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 Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will grant a series of medical product exclusions from List 4 Section 301 tariffs on products from China, it said in a pre-publication copy of a notice. The new exclusions, which are based on 59 separate exclusion requests, cover eight Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheadings: 3401.19.0000, 3926.90.9910, 4015.19.0550, 4818.90.0000, 6210.10.5000, 6307.90.6090, 6307.90.6800 and 6307.90.9889.
The Commerce Department issued notices in the Federal Register on its recently initiated antidumping and countervailing duty investigations on corrosion inhibitors from China (A-570-122/C-570-123). The CV duty investigation covers entries Jan. 1, 2019, through Dec. 31, 2019. The AD duty investigation covers entries July 1, 2019, through Dec. 31, 2019.
CBP added on Feb. 25 the ability in ACE for importers to file entries with recently excluded goods in the first tranche of Section 301 tariffs, it said in a CSMS message. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative recently added four new exclusions from the first tranche of goods and updated Harmonized Tariff Schedule classifications from that tranche that expired (see 2002100014). The product exclusions and amendments apply retroactively to July 6, 2018, the date the tariffs on the first list took effect, and will remain in effect until Oct. 2, 2020.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is finalizing a new de minimis exemption from Lacey Act declaration requirements for importers. Under the final rule, importers will not have to submit declarations for products with minimal amounts of plant material, with limitations also set on the total amount of plant material on an entry line. The final rule takes effect April 1.
The International Trade Commission recently issued Revision 4 to the 2020 Harmonized Tariff Schedule, adding new exclusions from Section 301 tariffs and amending units of quantity for a pair of subheadings for U.S. goods returned under Chapter 98. New U.S. Note 20(ss) is added for the new exclusions, as announced by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on Feb. 19 (see 2002190015). New subheading 9903.88.40 is created for goods entered under the new exclusions, and conforming changes are made elsewhere to Chapter 99 provisions on Section 301 tariffs. For U.S. goods returned, units of quantity for subheadings 9801.00.1030 and 9801.00.1031 (which cover goods of chapters 71 and 82, respectively) are changed to a footnote that says quantities should be reported in the units provided in chapters 1-97. Previously the units were “No. and g” and “No. and kg,” respectively.
The Commerce Department issued a notice in the Federal Register on its recently initiated antidumping duty investigation on difluoromethane (R-32) from China (A-570-121). The agency will determine whether imports of merchandise subject to this investigation are being sold in the U.S. at less than fair value. The period of investigation is July 1, 2019, through Dec. 31, 2019.
The Office of the U.S Trade Representative is set to publish a notice Feb. 20 listing some new product exclusions from Section 301 tariffs on the third list of products from China (see 2002190005). The product exclusions apply retroactively to Sept. 24, 2018, the date the tariffs on the third list took effect, and will remain in effect until Aug. 7, 2020.