Census has issued an AES broadcast announcing that, effective immediately, the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) tables in the Automated Export System have been updated to reflect changes for textile-bottomed footwear (in chapter 64) made by Presidential Proclamation 8742.
At the December 7, 2011 COAC meeting, the COAC Subcommittee on Intellectual Property Rights and CBP provided an update on their activities. COAC made recommendations for facilitating legitimate trade, including a C-TPAT-like supply chain partnership program for IPR and a distribution chain management serialization concept for validating the authenticity of goods. CBP announced that it had submitted a legislative proposal to Congress on sharing unredacted samples.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued a CSMS message announcing the issuance of Harmonized System Update 1108. This update contains 577 Automated Broker Interface (ABI) records and 118 harmonized tariff records.
Officials at the International Trade Commission state that the Proclamation to amend the Harmonized Tariff Schedule to implement hundreds of WCO-recommended tariff changes is "at the White House" and is expected to be signed by the President by the end of the year. Once it is signed, it will be published in the Federal Register and take effect 30 days after its Federal Register publication, which would likely be in the late January 2012 timeframe.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has updated its Customs and Trade Automated Interface Requirements (CATAIR) for entry summary and related information filed through the Automated Commercial System (ACS) in order to add a new Appendix U on PGA Manifest Hold Status Messages, among other changes.
The International Trade Commission has updated its online 2011 Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS Revision 1) to reflect Proclamation 8742’s changes for special upland cotton import quotas. The ITC had previously updated the online 2011 HTS to reflect Proclamation 8472’s changes for textile-bottomed footwear and Chile FTA origin rule changes.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued a CSMS message announcing the issuance of Harmonized System Update 1107. This update contains 28,916 Automated Broker Interface records and 4,758 harmonized tariff records.
The International Trade Commission has updated its online 2011 Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS Revision 1) to reflect Proclamation 8742’s changes that modify HTS Chapter 64 for certain rubber- or plastic-soled footwear to which a layer of textile materials has been added (textile-bottomed footwear) and make certain rule of origin changes for various Chile free trade agreement (FTA) products. Proclamation 8742’s changes for special upland cotton import quotas are expected to be added to the online HTS soon.
In May 2011, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative updated its guidebook on the U.S. Generalized System of Preferences to facilitate public understanding of the GSP program. Among other topics, the guidebook provides information on articles eligible for duty-free treatment, articles prohibited from receiving such treatment, Competitive Need Limitations, and reimbursement for tariffs after retroactive renewal of the program.