CBP has issued an ABI administrative message announcing that its most recent changes to the 2006 Harmonized Tariff Schedule records, Harmonized System (HS) Update (No. 0603) contains changes with respect to:
Customs duty
A customs duty is a tariff or tax which a country imposes on goods when they are transported across international borders. Customs Duties are used to protect countries' economies, residents, jobs, and environments, by limiting the flow of imported merchandise, especially restricted and prohibited goods, into the country. The Customs duty rate is a percentage determined by the value of the article purchased in the foreign country and not based on quality, size, or weight. U.S. customs duties are listed in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States.
In the May 10, 2006 issue of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Bulletin (CBP Bulletin) (Vol. 40, No. 20), CBP issued notices: (a) modifying a classification ruling on a metal imitation lunch box, and (b) modifying or revoking two classification rulings on glass rods used to make fiber optics. CBP states that it is also revoking any treatment it has previously accorded to substantially identical transactions.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued updated Textile Sample Guidelines for imports of textile and apparel sample shipments, including those subject to quota and/or visa requirements.
In Motorola, Inc. v. U.S., the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit agreed with the Court of International Trade and ruled that Customs correctly classified eight models of circuits used in battery packs for cell phones under HTS 8536.30.80 (3.2%) as other apparatus for protecting electrical circuits.
Washington Trade Daily reports that a U.S. Department of Agriculture official told the Senate Agriculture Committee that the U.S. sugar program will all but be abandoned by January 1, 2008 as duty-free imports are allowed without constraint from Mexico under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). According to the article, on May 12, 2006, the USDA will take a look at the latest global production and demand report on sugar, which may direct further expansion of tariff-rate quotas for the rest of the year. (WTD dated 05/11/06, www.washingtontradedaily.com.)
U.S. Customs and Border Protection recently posted guidance in the form of a 154 page presentation on understanding tariff shift rules under U.S. free trade agreements. The March 2006 presentation is part of CBP in-house training material for field Import Specialists.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a notice which modifies the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) in order to correct several inadvertent errors and omissions in various Presidential Proclamations and make conforming changes to the HTS so that the intended tariff treatment is provided.
On April 26, 2006, the Senate Finance Committee held a hearing on "Authorization of Customs and Trade Functions" in order to review the operation of customs and trade functions in the federal government. This review will assist the Finance Committee in preparing legislation to reauthorize those functions.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has announced its implementation of interim policy and operating procedures for processing Periodic Monthly Statement (PMS) rejections and liquidated damages in order to allow filers to make corrections to the entry summary prior to payment, without the concern that they will receive liquidated damages for removing the entry summary to make the change, etc.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued to the ports and posted to its Web site instructions regarding (1) the use of visas to make claims for duty-free treatment under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) for qualifying textile and/or apparel articles (textile articles) from Chad that are entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after April 26, 2006, and (2) quota reporting for certain apparel articles from Chad that are subject to the AGOA aggregate tariff preference level (TPL or Cap) and its sublimit.