Tariff Changes Over Past Six Months Implement Sections 301 and 232 Tariff Changes, India and Turkey GSP Removal

2019 is shaping up to be another active year in terms of changes to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule. Like last year, a series of revisions were necessary in the first half of the year to implement Section 301 exemptions and an increase for $200 billion worth of the China tariffs from 10 percent to 25 percent. Other major changes are related to the Generalized System of Preferences, and in particular the removal of India and Turkey from the program. In all, seven revisions were issued prior to the mid-year Revision 8, as follows:

Revision 1 (03/25/19). Revision 1 added new note 20(i) to subchapter III of Chapter 99 to implement the latest set of Section 301 exemptions announced by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (see 1903210048). New HTS subheading 9903.88.06 was added for products that benefit from the new set of exclusions. Also, General Statistical Note 4(d) was amended to add unit of quantity abbreviation “A” for amperes, and remove the abbreviation “gr cntnrs” for gross containers.

Revision 2 (03/28/19). Revision 2 added a new section to the rules of origin under the U.S.-Morocco Free Trade Agreement in General Note 27 for goods of chapter 62, as announced by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative in a notice on March 22 (see 1903210042). That change, the only one in the now-current Revision 2 edition of the HTS, took effect April 1.

Revision 3 (04/18/19). Revision 3 included changes necessary to implement the latest group of exemptions from Section 301 tariffs on certain products from China, as announced by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative in a notice issued April 18 (see 1904170038). That included the addition of new subheading 9903.88.07 for goods that qualify for the exemption, as well as new paragraph (j) of Note 20 to subchapter III of chapter 99, which lists goods covered by the new exemptions.

Revision 3 also included technical corrections to units of measure throughout the tariff schedule. These changes included the addition of “kg” to subheading 2922.49.4300 for “Glycine (Aminoacetic acid)”; changing “kg” to “No.” for 4014.90.5000 (hygienic or pharmaceutical articles of vulcanized rubber (other than hard rubber), other than sheath contraceptives and nursing nipples); changing “No.” to “X” for 8512.20.2040 (lighting equipment for motor vehicles, motorcycles and road tractors for semi-trailers); changing “kg” to “X” for 9017.90.0132 and 9017.90.0160 (parts and accessories of certain instruments of heading 9017); adding “No.” to 9601.90.8000 for worked “other” animal carving materials; changing “No.” to “X” for 9615.11.5000 (hair slides and the like, of hard rubber or plastics); and changing “No.” to “X” for 9620.00.6000 (“other” monopods, bipods, tripods and similar articles of graphite or other carbon).

Revision 4 (05/09/19). In Revision 4, the ITC implemented the increase in duties on tranche three of goods subject to the tariffs from 10 percent to 25 percent, as announced in early May (see 1905060040). The increase in duty rates for subheadings 9903.88.03 and 9903.88.04, as well as U.S. Notes 20(e) and 20(g) to subchapter III of chapter 99, took effect May 10.

Revision 5 (05/15/19). Revision 5 implemented a new batch of exclusions from tranche one of the tariffs under new subheading 9903.88.08 and U.S. Note 20(k) to subchapter III, chapter 99, and made conforming changes to U.S. Note 20(a) and U.S. Note 20(b) to subchapter III, chapter 99. It also implemented new subheading 9903.88.09 for goods subject to tranche three of duties that are still subject to a 10 percent duty because they were exported from China before May 10 and entered before June 1. U.S. Note 20(l) to subchapter III explains the new provision. Also in Revision 5 but unrelated to Section 301 tariffs, the International Trade Commission updated Statistical Annexes A and B of the HTS to reflect the new name of North Macedonia.

Revision 6 (05/23/19). Changes in Revision 6 featured the removal of Turkey from the Generalized System of Preferences program (see 1905170004), including its elimination from the list of GSP countries in General Note 4 and the removal of Turkish goods from the list of country-product pairs ineligible for GSP. The new version also removed Turkey from the lists in U.S. Notes 17 and 18 to Chapter 99 of developing countries exempt from safeguard duties on washing machines and solar cells. These changes took effect May 17. Effective May 21, the tariff schedule was also amended to remove additional Section 232 tariffs on steel products from Turkey provided for in U.S. Note 16 to Chapter 99 and in subheading 9903.80.02, so that Turkey became subject to the 25% tariff applicable to most other countries. Finally, Revision 6 included changes to reflect the exemption of Mexico and Canada from Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum (see 1905170044), with modifications to U.S. Note 16 to Chapter 99 and subheadings 9903.80.01 and 9903.85.01 that took effect May 20.

Revision 7 (06/13/19). Revision 7 changes included the removal of India from the Generalized System of Preferences program (see 1905310072), with the country removed from lists of GSP beneficiaries in General Note 4, and a bevy of subheadings for India removed from the list of country-product pairs ineligible for GSP because they exceeded Competitive Need Limitations. The new version also ended an exemption for India from Section 201 safeguards on solar cells and washing machines, because India is no longer considered a developing country that qualifies for the exemption. These changes took effect June 5.

The revised HTS also implemented an additional set of exemptions for Section 301 tariffs in products from China under new subheading 9903.88.10, as well as in U.S. Note 20(m) to subchapter III of chapter 99 (see 1906030038). Confirming changes were made elsewhere in U.S. Note 20. Also, subheading 9903.88.09 and U.S. Note 20(l) to subchapter III of chapter 99 were amended to reflect the recent extension until June 15 of the deadline for products in list 3 of the Section 301 tariffs to enter at a 10 percent duty rate (see 1905310070). The delay only applied to goods on the water as of May 10.

Finally, temporary duty rates under the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill for three sets of products were corrected. The tariff rate for subheading 9902.09.49 is now 0.3% (from 0.4%); for subheading 9902.09.50, it’s now 4.9% (from 5.1%); and for subheading 9902.09.51, it’s now 4% (from 4.1%). Those changes took effect as of Oct. 13, 2018. And statistical note 3 to chapter 38 was amended to correct typos.