The Agricultural Marketing Service is amending the Cotton Board Rules and Regulations to increase the value assigned to imported cotton for the purposes of calculating supplemental assessments on imports collected under the Cotton Research and Promotion Program. The revised value in the direct final rule is $0.012222, an increase of $0.000317 per kilogram. The increase reflects a rise in the average price of Upland cotton received by U.S. farmers during the period January through December 2018. AMS's notice also includes a table of adjusted assessments corresponding to each Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading for which they are due. The changes take effect Dec. 16, unless adverse comments are received by Nov. 14.
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.
CBP added the ability in ACE for importers to file entries with recently excluded goods in the second tranche of Section 301 tariffs on Oct. 8, it said in a CSMS messages. For the second tranche exclusions, filers of imported products that were granted an exclusion (see 1909300041) should report the regular Chapters 39, 70, 73, 84, 85, 86 and 90 Harmonized Tariff Schedule number, as well as subheading 9903.88.20. “Importers shall not submit the corresponding Chapter 99 HTS number for the Section 301 duties when" subheading 9903.88.20 is submitted, CBP said.
The International Trade Commission published notices in the Oct. 8 Federal Register on the following AD/CV injury, Section 337 patent and other trade proceedings (any notices that warrant a more detailed summary will be in another ITT article):
CBP created Harmonized System Update (HSU) 1916 on Oct. 1, containing 76 Automated Broker Interface records and 18 Harmonized Tariff Schedule records, it said in a CSMS message. The update includes recently announced exclusions and other changes related to the Section 301 tariffs (see 1909180004). Another change is related to the Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum, CBP said. Modifications required by the verification of the 2019 HTS and to support partner government agency message set functionality are included as well.
CBP added the ability in ACE for importers to file entries with recently excluded goods in the second tranche of Section 301 tariffs on Sept. 29, it said in a CSMS messages. For the second tranche exclusions, filers of imported products that were granted an exclusion (see 1909180004) should report the regular Chapters 39, 73, 76, 84, 85, 86, 87 and 90 Harmonized Tariff Schedule number, as well as subheading 9903.88.17. “Importers shall not submit the corresponding Chapter 99 HTS number for the Section 301 duties when" subheading 9903.88.17 is submitted, CBP said.
CBP will add the ability in ACE for importers to file entries with the seventh group of exclusions from the first tranche of Section 301 tariffs on Sept. 29, it said in a CSMS message. Filers of imported products that were granted an exclusion (see 1909180013) should report the regular Chapter 84, 85, 87, 88 or 90 Harmonized Tariff Schedule number, as well as subheading 9903.88.14, for products subject to Section 301 duties on products from China but that have been granted an exclusion by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. “Importers shall not submit the corresponding Chapter 99 HTS number for the Section 301 duties when HTS 9903.88.14 is submitted,” CBP said.
CBP will add the ability in ACE for importers to file entries with the second group of excluded goods from the third tranche of Section 301 tariffs on Sept 29, it said in a CSMS message. Filers of imported products that were granted an exclusion (see 1909180004) should report the regular Chapters 38, 39, 40, 42, 44, 46, 48, 54, 55, 59, 73, 76, 83, 84, 85, 87 and 94 Harmonized Tariff Schedule number, as well as subheading 9903.88.18, for products subject to Section 301 duties on products from China but that have been granted an exclusion by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. “Importers shall not submit the corresponding Chapter 99 HTS number for the Section 301 duties when HTS 9903.88.18 is submitted,” CBP said.
A coalition of U.S. manufacturers seeks the imposition of new antidumping and countervailing duties on glass containers from China, it said in a petition filed with the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission Sept. 24. 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 is publishing three new sets of product exclusions from the 25 percent Section 301 tariffs on goods from China (see 1909180004). The product exclusions apply retroactively to when each tranche initially took effect. That was July 6, 2018, for the first tranche, Aug. 23, 2018, for the second tranche and Sept. 24, 2018, for the third tranche. The notice for the third tranche also includes "technical amendments" to lists three and four of the Section 301 tariffs that appear to end double counting of Section 301 tariffs on goods tariffed at a rate that comes from another subheading.
Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S6, released for sale on Sept. 6 and marked on the packaging as a product of Vietnam, typifies the growing volume of Vietnamese-sourced tablets and laptops imported to the U.S. under Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading 8471.30.01. Though the overwhelming majority of those goods continue to originate from China, Vietnam is emerging as a more important country of origin, according to Census Bureau trade data accessed through the International Trade Commission’s DataWeb tool.